Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

On a planet home to people of literally all the colors of the rainbow, you would expect it to be rather difficult to stand out. And this was mostly true… mostly.

Pacopolis was a peaceful city, home to many alike. The town was so diverse in every way as people from all over Pac World would come here to prosper. But there was one that never managed to not stand out in a crowd. One kid who could never not stand out.

Pacster Bak was a short-ish kid with blond hair, bright blue eyes, and a very wide mouth. 

He was also the only person in Pac World with yellow skin. So… I guess Pacworld was only barely home to all the colors of the rainbow. 

Pac had known from a very young age that he was different. With all the staring and slack jaws that followed him everywhere he went it was kinda hard not to. And that made him an… easy target to say the least.

Pac grunted as he was shoved up against his locker.

“Watch where you’re going, Porker!” A blue skinned blond guy called over his shoulder.

The boy frowned. Everyone knew who he was but no one ever came to his rescue. That was the story of his life… for most of his life at least. All because he happened to be yellow.

Well… it wasn’t all his color. He was also kinda fat. Not morbidly so but he was a pretty round guy. There were a few other things that could be contributing factors as well. He honestly didn’t care what it was though. He was just tired of being pushed around… Literally.

The teen sighed and made his way to class.

…

“It was with his ghostly forces from the Nether World that Betrayus dealt a devastating blow to the security of Pac World.” Ms Globular explained.

Pac soaked up every word of the lesson as the blue woman carried on.

Oh, yeah, that was another thing. He was a TOTAL ghost nerd. There wasn’t any real reason or motivation behind his interest, he just thought they were fascinating. The history books stated that Pac World War One was fought against Betrayus’s army who used necromancy to turn both war prisoners and captured souls into ghostly slaves for their army. They were then forced to suffer the same fate after they were banished to the Nether World roughly a decade ago. No one had seen ghosts since then. Still, Pac was deeply immersed in the stories of their origins and defeats.

Beep beep!

Pac turned his attention to the bully from before as he continued to type on his wrist phone. He supposed he wasn’t the only one who noticed because Ms. Globular walked up to him only moments later.

“Mr. Skeebo.” She addressed him with crossed arms and a stern expression.

The jacket-wearing teen fumbled with his book and arm device with a sheepish smile.

“Try to focus a little more on the ghost wars and a little less on your love life!” 

The class laughed as a blue skinned girl in pigtails and glasses blushed from the other side of the room. Pac had seen her around holding hands with Skeebo in the halls. He was pretty sure she was his girlfriend. But she was also pretty new so he couldn’t be sure.

“Come on, Ms. Globular.” Skeebo drawled. “No one believes in ghosts anymore!”

Pac frowned at that and discreetly kicked at his backpack that was filled with books on ghosts. He didn’t understand why so many people disregarded all the proof behind ghosts. They were in HISTORY books for overlords sake.

“Is that right?” Ms. G said. “Show of hands. How many of you believe in ghosts?”

Pac was just about to raise his hand when he noticed the lack of them currently in the air. Many kids were staring at their phones or off into space but none of them had raised their hands. This was when Pac started to feel conflicted. He never liked to be the odd one out, considering how often he was forced into that position, but how could he reject something he was so passionate about?

“No one?” Ms. Globular said, sounding disappointed.

Pac made his decision, and raised his hand.

“Ah! One student believes!” The teacher rejoiced.

Just as expected, everyone turned to him. Pac’s nerves instantly spiked. 

“Pac?” They said in unison before dissolving into laughter.

He slouched his shoulders at the sound.

“Yeah but he’s not a student.” Skeebo laughed. “He’s an overgrown lemon!”

Pac cringed. He saw THIS coming. The class once again erupted into laughter. He saw that coming too. Then, the blue girl Skeebo had been texting stood up from her seat and shot her boyfriend a dirty look.

Pac’s eyes widened. THAT he didn’t see coming AT ALL.

“Alright, settle down!” Ms. Globular ordered with a frown before turning to her only yellow student. “Pac, on what do you base your beliefs?”

Pac turned his attention back to her and stood up.

“I-I’ve read up on ghosts.” He announced, reaching into his backpack to pull out his books. “The ones that came from the soldiers of Betrayus’s fallen army? They sealed them away in the netherworld as punishment for all the stuff they did during the war, but… a lot of people theorize that that won’t be a permanent thing. Which is kinda bad news because they really hate us… And when they do come back, the fact that so many people don’t believe in them anymore will mean that we get taken by surprise—”

“BOOGA BOOGA!” 

Pac screamed as a pair of hands shook him from behind. He launched himself forwards and crashed over his desk, falling to a pile on the floor.

“You mean like that?” Skeebo said, revealing himself to be the culprit behind the teen’s scare.

Pac flushed deep enough to be mistaken for a red Pac Worlder as laughter surrounded him again. He just stared up at the ceiling and absorbed the torment. There wasn’t much else he could do after all.

Briiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing!

“That’s all for today, class!” Ms. Globular announced. “Mr. Skeebo, stay behind for a moment, will you?”

Pac found slight satisfaction as he watched the smile disappear from the bully’s face. That wasn’t to say that he didn’t pack up his things and rush out of there though. From now on, he’d keep his thoughts to himself.

…

“Uuuuggh. Math.” A voice from behind him groaned.

Pac chuckled and turned around to see a tall red skinned kid wearing a tank top and multiple sweatbands. One of them was even tied around his long curly hair in a ponytail.

“Rough day, Spiral?” He asked.

“Yup.” The kid smiled. “What about you?”

Pac sighed.

“Yup.”

“Skeebo?”

“Skeebo.” Pac nodded. “He jumped me and made me spazz out in front of the whole class in fourth period.”

“Jeez. Sorry, man.” Spiral said with a sympathetic look. “That jerk never gives you a break, does he?”

“No… but it’s fine. I’m used to it.”

“Excited for dinner?” Spiral asked, trying to brighten the mood.

Pac broke into a smile at that.

“Oh yeah, I’m STARVING.” He said, rubbing his round belly.

Spiral chuckled and patted him on the back.

“...um… excuse me?” A familiar voice called.

The two of them turned around to see the same girl from before. Still blue, still in all black, and still looking apologetic.

“You’re… Pac, right?” She asked. “Can I talk to you for a second?… if you’re not busy that is.”

The boys didn’t really know how to react. No one ever wanted to talk to him.

“Dude, what does Skeebo’s girlfriend want with you?” Spiral leaned over to whisper into Pac’s ear. “Think she’s tryin’ to prank ya?”

“Uh…” 

Pac thought back to the look she’d given Skeebo when he called him a lemon. He didn’t know why but… he felt like he could trust her.

“... No… no, she’s cool.” Pac told him. “Just give us a sec.”

Spiral still looked sceptical. He took great pride in keeping his buddy safe. But he trusted him.

“Alright…”

The tall teen then wandered off, leaving Pac to talk to the girl alone.

“... Hi?” Pac tried after a short awkward silence.

“Hi.” She said back with a smile. “Um, I’m Cylindria. But everyone calls me Cyli.”

She extended a hand to him. Her gloves were black and fingerless that stopped halfway up her forearm as opposed to his red ones that stopped at the wrist. He hesitantly shook her hand, not fully understanding what was happening here yet.

“Nice to meet you?” He said, unsurely.

“Nice to meet you too. Um…” she paused and looked down, shyly. “I just wanted to apologize for what Skeebie did to you. It wasn’t okay. I’m sorry I didn’t say anything while it was happening.”

Pac’s brain had officially stopped working. Was she… APOLOGIZING to him? And for something that she didn’t even do? What the heck?

“... That’s…” he shook his head. “Thanks? You don’t have to apologize though, it wasn’t your fault.

“I know but I still should have DONE SOMETHING- I mean- I just-”

“No, I’m like TOTALLY used to it.” Pac informed her. “From him at least, I mean, you wouldn’t believe the kind of stuff he pulled back in middle school.”

Pac felt some of the tension in the air leave… and be replaced with a different kind of tension. Cyli was looking at him strangely. She looked surprised and concerned and like she wanted to jump to someone’s defense… he just couldn’t figure out if it was him or Skeebo.

“Uh… I don’t think I’ve seen you around all that often?” He said. “You know… before this year?”

“I transferred here from another school.” She explained. “What about you?”

“I, uh… used to live a little further out with my Aunt S but I’ve been here most of my life.” He told her. “She decided to send me here so I could have a better chance at making friends. You know...whole roommate situation.”

“Is that working out for you?”

He smiled.

“Yeah, it kinda is.”

The two of them smiled at each other.

“… Do you have a hoverboard?” Pac asked.

Confused but curious by this question, Cyli nodded.

“Me and Spiral know a great hover park a few blocks down. We were gonna hit it up after class… would you wanna-”

“Yo, lemon head!”

They turned to see Skeebo marching down the hall towards them.

“Who told you you could talk to my girl-”

His ranting continued as Cyli and Pac made eye contact… and then the yellow one booked it.

“Yeah, you better run!” Skeebo yelled after him, slinging an arm around Cyli’s shoulder.

“Skeebo!” The girl said, shoving him off. “Why’d you do that?!”

“Uh… cuz he was harassing my girlfriend?”

“Harassing- he wasn’t harassing me! We were just talking!”

Skeebo raised a blond eyebrow.

“No need to get so defensive, babe. What are you getting all worked up about?” His eyes narrowed. “Say, if he wasn’t harassing you, maybe he was flirting-”

“Skeebo!” She practically screeched.

She regretted her volume shortly after when she caught a few glances thrown in her direction. She flushed pink and stormed down the hall.

“Hey! Cyli, wait!” Skeebo called as he jogged to stay by her side.

“Why do you keep saying stuff like that!?” She whimpered, swiping at her eyes. “Do you really think I’d cheat on you? Do you trust me that little?”

“Naw, babe, of course not.” He said, throwing his arm over her shoulder again. “It’s not you I don’t trust. I only say that stuff cuz I care about you. The lemon ball’s bad news.”

“I know, I know.” She mumbled.

Skeebo had been telling her that since her very first day at Maze Prep. When she’d first heard him speak of an infamous thorn in his side known as Lemon Head she’d assumed it was a nickname for a bully that was especially sour. She hadn’t expected to follow his sneer towards a boy with YELLOW skin. She’d thought, like most people before they came to Maze Prep, that yellow ones were extinct. So the sight had been quite jarring at first. She asked Skeebo about the matter and her boyfriend only jeered and expressed to her, yet again, that he was to be avoided. Sensing she wouldn’t get much of a conversation about the topic with him she dropped it. 

She hadn’t meant to, but she took to watching this boy every now and then. Trying to discern if he was really real or just wearing cosplay makeup as some kind of fashion choice or strange joke. What she found instead… was a shy, smiley, guy who hated being in the spotlight but seemed to hate injustice even more. He tried to keep to himself and his tall red friend but she caught him in the act of chivalry more than a few times. Jogging across the hall to help someone pick up their papers. Holding books for a classmate. Even knocking over a trash can to distract a bully from picking on someone and have them chase after him instead.

This, as one would guess, confused her quite a bit. But she neglected to take it up with her boyfriend to avoid another one sided argument. Instead: she watched. And observed… and now she had plans to hang out with him… how did she get into this mess?

… 

“Really?” Spiral asked, his brows furrowing in surprise.

“I…” Pac smoothed his hand nervously over the back of his head. “Shoot, I probably should have asked you first—”

“No no, it’s not that…” Spiral paused. “… It’s a little that. I dunno man, I don’t get why you trust her so much.”

“I don’t get why you don’t,” Pac stated as the two of them continued down the street with their hoverboards tucked under their arms. “She hasn’t exactly been here long enough to do anything bad.”

“It’s not about what she did, it’s about the company she keeps,” Spiral sneered.

Pac winced. “Yeah… that part sucks a little.”

“A little ?”

“Okay, it sucks a lot,” Pac admitted. “But that’s not really her fault. If anything I feel bad for her.”

“Why? She chose to be around him. She chose to date him.”

“Sometimes it’s not always that simple.”

“Example?”

“I didn’t choose to wear oversized hoodies for most of my adolescent life because I liked the look.”

Spiral inhaled sharply through his teeth.

“Point withdrawn.”

Pac puffed a laugh. 

“Think she’ll even show?”

His smile faltered a bit. Before he could even give his guess, finally, the hover park came into view. And there she was. Pads and black helmet with a pink crossbones design on with her similarly coloured hoverboard under her arm. Waiting. 

She must have seen yellow out of the corner of her vision because her eyes immediately went to them.

“Hey,” she greeted them, nervously.

There wasn’t anyone else around. She, understandably, felt a little bit awkward. Especially with the look she was being given by the tell red guy she assumed was Spiral.

“I’m, Cyli,” she introduced herself to the tallest of their bunch. “It’s nice to meet you—”

“First things first,” Spiral stated. He pointed at Pac. “This is my best friend; not a museum exhibit.”

“Spiral!” Pac chastised, flushing bright orange.

“So keep your stupid questions to yourself,” Spiral continued anyway, ignoring Cyli’s perplexed expression at this outburst. “Use your big girl brain to figure out what a stupid question is.”

“Spi. Rel!” Pac pressed further.

“Second, you’re boyfriend is an ass—-”

“Excuse me?” Cyli finally responded, her blue cheeks going slightly purple.

“Stop!”

They did stop. The two of them looked to Pac who’s whole head had shifted colors and had his arms thrown out, as if trying to physically stop the conversation.

“Can we please just hover?” Pac pleaded. “We don’t even know eachother yet, can’t we leave that for later?”

Cyli and Spiral looked at eachother, having just had basically the worst first impression ever… but they agreed. And they did hover. And they were all very good at it. And they all had fun.

“Oh, can’t touch this!” Spiral called as Pac performed a kickflip.

Cyli laughed and tried to mimic him. She landed it perfectly.

“Can’t touch that either, damn!”

“Woop!” Pac cheered, pumping his fist.

The three of them weeped in and out of the ramps and zoomed through the skys. Spiral hadn’t had this much fun since yesterday. Cyli hadn’t had this much fun since she transferred. And Pac hadn’t had this much fun with a stranger since he met Spiral.

As the evening grew closer and darker, Cyli suggested they grab some dinner together but Pac quickly declined. He had just, possibly, made a friend, he was not about to jeopardize that by revealing any more of his oddities. At least not tonight. But as they packed up to leave, Spiral put a hand on Cyli’s shoulder.

“Look,” Spiral told her, lowering his voice to ensure Pac couldn’t hear him. “You’re pretty cool. I had fun tonight. But you can’t play both sides. Skeebo is a jerk wad and he’s especially awful to Pac. If you wanna be Pac’s friend you gotta drop the dead weight.”

“I’m sorry…” Cyli said, plastering on a sarcastic smile. “Hi, I’m Cyli. Who the hell do you think you are? Like hell I’m gonna break up with my boyfriend because you told me to. I met you today , why should I take your word for this?”

“You shouldn’t,” Spiral admitted. “Take your own word for it.” The blue haired teen smirked at her confused look. “Knowing Skeebo, he’s done nothing but trash Pac to you since day one. But you chose to take him up on this offer anyway. Why is that?”

Cyli didn’t respond. Spiral smiled, but it wasn’t a cocky one. He felt bad for her too.

…

Welp… Pac officially didn’t know how to feel. On one hand, he had a really good time with Cyli and she seemed really nice. On the other hand—

He was being smashed into the lockers by Skeebo. Pac grunted against the force, mostly out of surprise. His blue eyes widened in fear as Skeebo put a hand against his shoulder.

“Thought I told you to stay away from my girl, butter ball.”

Pac’s heart dropped. Shit. How did he know!? Did Cyli tell him? Shit shit shit. He could tell that Skeebo was taking serious delight in his fear. He always did.

“Th-that isn’t up to you,” Pac stuttered. “Cyli’s her own—”

Skeebo slammed him into the locker again. Again, the pain didn’t bother his too much. But man was he panicking.

“Stay away from my girl… or I’m gonna put you in a blender.”

Skeebo let go of him and stomped away. Pac’s breathing was heavy. His legs were shaking. He was so scared he didn’t remember to have his pre period snack.

…

In fact, he didn’t even realize that he didn’t have said snack until it was too late. There was something different about that threat. It made him more scared than a threat usually would have. He couldn’t focus on much of anything, even history class which he had been on a roll with lately.

Maybe that was why he also didn’t recognize the warning sighs. Feeling sluggish and antsy at the same time. Uncomfortable and mouth dry. Slightly dazed.

“Pac?”

“What?”

“I asked if you would like to comment on the first battle of the ghost wars,” Ms. Globular clarified.

Normally, the answer would have been yes. but he felt really weird and couldn’t think straight.

“… Uh…” he hummed, dumbly.

“Looks like ghost nerd’s lost is touch,” Skeebo snarked.

And that’s when he realized what was wrong with him. And in that exact moment.

Briiiiiiiiiiiiiing!

The class turned to the anouncement screen.

Lunch time! It read, All you can eat buffet!

Pac’s mind went blank. In an instant, his peuples became pinpricks, then wide saucers. Urges rolled in his gut as he grinned wide and he licked his lips. The boy then took off, much to Skeebo’s dismay.

“He’s heading for the lunch room!” The bully said. “Stop him!”

…

By the time anyone else had gotten there, all the food had been cleared out and I mean ALL OF IT. When they entered the room, the only thing any of them saw was crumbs. That and Pac laying on a nearby table with a relieved expression and a hand over his belly. Cyli gawked as her boyfriend stomped over to the yellow teen. That couldn’t have been the same boy she had hover board with, could it? How did he even…? No one could… no one could eat an entire lunch room that fast… or so she thought.

Skeebo marched over to Pac just as he was about to open his eyes again.

“Ugh! You jelly bellied trash can!” The bully yelled.

Pac jolted awake and scrambled backwards in fear, regret shining clear in his eyes. His daze was gone. Now he was panicking.

“You wiped out the whole cafeteria!” Skeebo continued, pulling back his arm for a punch. “I am SO gonna wail on you-! Gah!”

He flinched away as Spiral appeared right in front of him.

“Pick on someone your own size, Skeebs!” The teen said, winding up as well.

“This isn’t your fight, Spiral!” Skeebo insisted.

“If you have a problem with my roomie, you have a problem with me. Now BACK. OFF.”

Skeebo jumped back and put his hands up.

“Alright, alright.” He sighed. “But he ate all the food!”

“Not all of it.” Spiral said.

By this time, Pac had picked himself up off the table and took out his berry container. The thing he should have placated himself with before this happened.

“Power Palm Berries.” He said, offering him a handful. “They’re good. Try ‘em!”

Skeebo hummed.

“I suppose.”

The freckled teen took one or two of them and popped them in his mouth.

“See?” Spiral said, wrapping an arm around Pac. “All better now.”

Skeebo chewed for a moment before his face twisted in disgust.

“Ah!” He gagged. “These are awful!”

The taller teen grabbed Pac by his collar and started shaking him.

“Are you tryin’ to poison me!?” He shouted.

Pac looked scared before his expression dropped. Skeebo looked at him, puzzled as an odd gurgling sound came from his stomach.

BUURP!

The sheer force of his belch sent Skeebo flying into the soft serve machine with a crash. The bully sat there, dazed, as said machine squirted a swirl of chocolate ice cream onto his head. Pac whistled before crossing his arms behind his head. The whole room burst into laughter once again, this time with Pac joining in. Even Cyli couldn’t help but laugh.

Skeebo got to his feet looking like he was about to pop a blood vessel in his forehead. That was Pac’s cue to leave.

“Gotta run!” He said, shoving his berry container into Spiral’s hand.

The yellow teen then took off down the hall with Skeebo in hot pursuit. 

“Skeebo!” Cyli called.

“Pac!” Spiral yelled.

Pac continued to scramble down the hall. He weaved through the various students heading to the lunchroom and felt a stab of guilt in his chest. He hadn’t meant to eat all the food but “all you can eat” was kind of a trigger word for him. Once he heard/saw it, there was no stopping himself. He was just glad he hadn’t stuck around long enough to see Cyli’s reaction to his unchecked gluttony. That was one possible friendship down the drain all because of the stupid lunch bell. Pac vaulted himself out a window and rolled against the pavement to lessen the impact before continuing through the tennis court. Skeebo was gaining on him but got hit in the head with a tennis ball just as he was about to grab him by the collar. Pac took that opportunity to run straight into the maze, where he was sure Skeebo wouldn’t find him. Only after the tenth turn, however, did he realize what a bad idea that was. Skeebo stopped in front of the maze with a smirk.

…

“Where’s Pacster!?” Spiral demanded.

Skeebo had returned without the red skinned teen’s best friend and that only meant bad things to him.

“In the maze.” The bully answered with a smirk.

“WHAT!?” Cyli and Spiral yelled in unison.

“He could get lost in there! Skeebie, we have to do something!” Cyli insisted.

“Don’t worry, Cyli. I’ve got a plan to go after him after dark.” Her boyfriend told her.

“Why dark!? We should be going after him as soon as possible!”

“Oh, you’ll see…” the blue teen snickered.

… 

Pac made yet another turn leading to a dead end. It had grown into night at this point, meaning he’s missed dinner and his stomach was not too happy about it.

“Next time I’m bringing a GPS.” He said as his stomach growled. “And a midnight snack.”

…

Meanwhile, Skeebo and a few of his friends were waiting outside the maze, carrying white sheets.

“Once the lemon ball lays eyes on us, he’ll be makin’ lemonade!” Skeebo cackled.

His friends laughed along with him.

Cyli and Spiral were absolutely horrified as they watched this go down.

“Cut it out, Skeebie!” Cyli said. “Why scare him?”

“Hey, he’s the one who believes in ghosts.” Skeebo said, throwing on his sheet. “We just wanna see how much!”

He then led his friends into the maze, cackling like a hyena. Spiral made an attempt to follow them in.

“Where are you going?!” Cyli said.

“To warn Pacster!”

“Nobody’s supposed to go into that maze without supervision! You could get lost too!”

“I don’t care! He’s my best friend! Now which side are you playing on!?”

Cyli stopped and thought back to her conversation with the teen. He’d done absolutely nothing to deserve this… well… except maybe clear out the cafeteria but still. That wasn’t even the reason Skeebo was picking on him and it wasn’t right. 

“... I’m with you.” She told him.

…

Pac rounded another corner and looked down a tunnel that was… significantly different to the others. It was overgrown, un trimmed, and covered in signs that said things like “DEAD END” “KEEP OUT!” “DO NOT ENTER!”

“Dead end?” Pac questioned. “Huh? Suuuure. That’s just what they want you to think. This is probably the way out.”

Now that might not have been the best reasoning but he was kinda out of options. Not to mention that the hunger was getting to him a bit and his mind was a little foggy. He was not having a good day, food wise. 

He began walking down the tunnel with his red shoes. He trudged along the path for a few moments… and then he tripped over a vine. The teen yelped as he crashed face first into a whole bunch of signs that gave away into a tunnel. Now he was free falling down this long hole, occasionally hitting the floor and rolling a bit, and screaming all the way. He felt his body crash into other signs, breaking them apart as well.

“AAAAAAAHHH!” He screamed as he was finally thrown out of free fall and crashed into a wall.

He pulled down on something to catch himself that clicked into place and then stepped backwards onto some kind of button. His head was spinning from all the rolling and being thrown around. But when he opened his eyes he came face to face with the symbol found on all his favorite books. The symbol of ghosts…

Then the ground opened up under him and he was falling again.

“WAAAH!”

He was thrown out yet another tube and slammed flat against some kind of door before falling back onto his behind. He groaned and stumbled to his feet, rubbing his belly and face where he’d felt the most impact. 

Creeeeeaaaaaaaak~

Pac froze at the sound. He turned around to see the door wide open… and filled with ghosts.

…

Spiral sighed.

“He’s gotta be here somewhere!” The jock said.

“I wonder if Skeebo got lost too.” Cyli wondered. “I hope he’s alright.”

“I don’t.” Spiral mumbled.

Cyli shot him a dirty look.

“Hey! I know Skeebo isn’t the nicest guy on the block but he’s still my boyfriend!”

“Why, though!?” Spiral asked, spinning around to face her. “What in the world made you think that jerk was good boyfriend material?”

“I…! … I…” she tried to search for an answer. She tried to scramble through her memories; find one good thing about Skeebo that justified all of this… justified the fact that Pac was so obviously terrified of him. She sighed and sat down against one of the hedges. “I don’t know…” She admitted. “On my first day here he showed me around and made me laugh and… it kinda went from there? I was lonely and didn’t have anyone else… well… besides Sherry.”

“Sherry, huh?” Spiral questioned with a smile before sitting down next to her. “I know Sherry. Pink girl with the ponytail and braces right? Green eyes, little bit of a lisp.”

“That’s her.” Cyli grinned.

“Well, let me ask you this… how do you think Skeebo would treat Sherry?”

Her smile dropped and she looked down.

“Badly…”

Spiral put his hand on her shoulder.

“I think it’s time for some new friends.” He told her with an inviting smile as he reached out his hand to her.

She broke a tiny smile at that and took his hand.

“HELP!”

The two of them jumped up at the sound of Pac’s voice. He was close!

“Pacster!” Spiral called.

The two of them rounded a corner to see Pac looking frantic and out of breath.

“G-g-g-g-ghosts!” He said. “Saw ‘em! BIG! Lots! Ghosts! Boo! Gotta go!”

He tried to take off again but Spiral grabbed him by the shoulder.

“Pacster, calm down.” He told him. “What happened?”

“I-I went into that section marked “dead end”.” He told them, still shaking.

“Yeah?” Cyli and Spiral said in unison.

“THEY’RE NOT KIDDING! Ghosts! DEAD ghosts! …WoOoOoOoLehleheleh~” he went cross eyed and wiggled his fingers as he mimicked the ghost sound.

“Well that’s what we came here to tell ya.” Spiral said. “It’s a gag. The ghosts aren’t real, it’s just Skeebo and his buddies in disguise.”

“BOO!”

“WAH!” 

Pac jumped into the air and landed in his best friend’s arms, bridal style, as Skeebo lifted his sheet and started laughing like a maniac.

“Hah! Gotcha, lemonade!” The blue teen said.

“Knock it off, Skeebo. It’s over.” Cyli said as Pac climbed out of Spiral’s arms.

“Y-you mean… it was all just a prank?” Pac asked.

“Yup. Just a bad, stupid joke.” Cyli told him.

“So… all the ghosts are… fake?”

“That’s right, butter ball.” Skeebo said, getting in his face. “Everyone knows there's no such thing as ghosts. Except you.”

Pac’s eyes wandered upwards and his face went pale.

“Then maybe someone should tell them there’s no such thing as-”

That’s when they saw them. Hundreds of them all flying overhead.

“GHOOOOOOOOSTS!” They all screamed.

…

The six of them all ran out of the maze in a panic with the ghosts right on their tails. Pac risked a look back to see they were gaining on them.

“Run that way!” He said. “I’ll try to lead some of them away!”

“Pac, no!” Cyli said.

But it was too late. He was already running off.

“PAC!”

“Leave him!” Skeebo said, grabbing her hand. “We gotta get to higher ground!”

…

Pac’s plan had worked. The ghosts were no longer chasing his friends. The down side was that they were now chasing EVERYONE. He ducked under a few of them and ran inside the nearest house hoping to be safe there. Unfortunately, a group of ghosts saw him enter.

“Let’s grab that little chubby guy!” The red one said. “He won't be much trouble!”

…

“We’re coming to you live from Maze Prep School, where a paranormal attack of unprecedented proportions is underway.” The green skinned reporter stated with a blank face.

The president sat in his dark office, watching the ghosts fly off in the background of the transmission.

“Mr. President. We need to get you to a secure location.” His black haired assistant told him.

“Like most Pac Worlders, I don't believe in ghosts.” The red headed reporter informed them as a flock of ghosts flew by.” She gulped as her expression turned nervous. “But I’m willing to keep an open mind!” She screamed as a slime ball hit her in the face.

…

“What am I gonna do?” Pac asked himself as he looked out the window.

He had decided to take refuge in his dorm room as he looked out on all the people being attacked.

“I’ve gotta do SOMETHING.” He said with his hands on his head. “But what?”

“Surrendering would be nice.”

Pac jumped back with a scream as the red ghost from earlier stuck his head through the glass at him. Pac tried to make a break for the door but was cut off by three more ghosts. A small pink one, a skinny blue one, and a BIG orange one.

“Hey!” The red one said, holding up one of his books. “This one’s been reading up on ghosts!”

“Good!” The blue one said as they backed Pac against a wall. “So he knows what’s about to happen to him!”

Pac caught a slight glimpse of the door again and went for it. It slid open upon his approach and he began running down the halls. The four ghosts followed him, clearly enjoying every second of his terrified fleeing. Pac came to a dead end, this time with no windows present to jump out of. But there WAS a broom closet, so he went in there. He stood under the lamp light as the ghosts gained on him. There was nothing he could do anymore, he thought.

The ghosts rounded the corner and… immediately looked terrified. Throughout their entire chase, they’d been in darkness and Pac had looked some kind of sea green at best. But now that he was in full bright light…

“A YELLOW ONE!?” The four of them screamed as their momentum carried them straight into his mouth.

Pac was thrown against the back wall at the impact of multiple ghosts flying into him and down his throat. In a flash but also an eternity, all that he could feel was the ooze of death being forcefully sucked down his throat. His jaw forced open and stomach filling without his consent as something within him seemed to pull the ectoplasm inside.

Pac just sat there, mouth hanging open… surrounded by toppled over brooms and a flashlight that rolled across the floor.

Did that… just…. happen? 

He felt his stomach gurgle and grasped it in fear. He just ATE GHOSTS. Oh overlords, was he gonna die? Could they possess him from the inside? He felt something rise in his throat and…

Burp…

That was it? 

Pac waited for something more. Something worse. When it didn’t immediately come, Pac shakily got to his feet and tried to convince himself that there WEREN’T four ghosts of different sizes, shapes, and colors squirming around in his gut. There was a sinking, woozy, feeling in his stomach. He felt… sick. Nauseous. Something kept trying to rise in his throat. Was he going to throw up? Another burp forced its way out of his through. This one was wetter and he groaned afterwards. Yup… definitely something trying to come up. Whether he should let it or not was a little lost to him. He wants;it sure he even knew how to throw up.

His breathing was loud and ragged as he looked around.

… He had to find his friends.

…

Skeebo had led Cyli to a roof to take refuge. From above, they watched everything around them fall to pieces. People running and screaming as ghosts chased them. One with long tentacles even grabbed a broadcasting van and flew off with it.

Cyli and Skeebo looked at each other in concern. The couple reached for each other's hands… only to be interrupted by an enormous cyclops ghost. It roared and towered over them.

Just like that, Skeebo wrenched his hand free… and ran. Leaving her to be scooped up by the ghost.

“Skeebo! Help!” She called.

He didn’t even look behind and continued to scream and run away. She felt tears form in her eyes.

“Skeebo!” Spiral said, standing between him and the door. “It’s got Cylindria. You’ve gotta save her!”

“Are you out of your mind!?”

“Listen up, Skeebs! Look at her! If you aren’t gonna be there for her NOW, then-”

He pushed past him and ran. Cyli’s heartbroken expression turned to a frown as she squeezed her eyes shut. That was it. She was done with him.

She screamed as she was hoisted up and hung over the ghost’s mouth.

But she wasn’t done with herself. She grabbed onto her foot and struggled. It couldn’t end like this. It couldn’t-

“LEAVE HER ALONE!”

The three of them, cyclops included, all looked down to see… Pac.

“We don’t want any trouble.” He told it. “Just put her down and leave us in peace!”

The ghost leaned down towards the small, defenseless kid that DARED to speak to it that way… and then froze. Pac’s bright yellow skin had been illuminated by the ghost’s glowing light. He gave it a stern and strong expression and it caved, screaming and throwing Cylindria up in the air.

Pac dived to catch her and succeeded. Cyli laid, breathing heavily, in his arms as she tried to process what just happened.

“Are you okay?” He asked her, his own voice sounding tired as well.

“... I…” She looked at his concerned expression and felt her nerves calm. “Yeah.” She breathed.

Just then, six more ghosts rose up from the ground and began walking towards them. Pac stood up and stood firm, causing all the ghosts to change into shorter versions of themselves that were navy blue and looked like they were about to cry. They all promptly flew away.

Cyli and Spiral had watched this in awe.

…

Back in the White House, the president was also watching in awe.

“Did you just see what I just saw?”

“Yes sir.” His assistant said. “Those ghosts ran scared!”

…

“Pac…?” Cyli called, still on the floor.

The kid made a groaning sound and stumbled forwards with his hands over his stomach, looking like he was gonna fall over or puke… or both.

“Pac!” His friends called.

Spiral caught him in his arms and settled him back on his feet as Cyli got to hers. By this point, Pac had moved one of his hands to the side of his face and the other one was gently rubbing his belly.

“Pac, are you okay?” Spiral asked him.

“Not exactly…” he croaked.

His stomach rumbled and Pac’s hands shot to his mouth. His friends leaned back in fear of getting puked on but were instead met with the sight of the yellow teen belching up four pairs of floating eyeballs. The three kids gawked at the sight of eight, disembodied, eyeballs staring back at them.

“A YELLOW ONE!?” They repeated before flying off.

“Paaaaaaac…?” Cyli asked, still wide eyed.

“Must have been something I ate.” Pac said, breaking into a dorky smile…

Then he fell backwards and passed out.

“PACSTER!”

…

President Spheros turned around in his chair.

“You know what to do.” He told his assistant.

“Yes sir.”

The green skinned man turned back to the monitor, staring at the boy on screen with his brown eyes.

“A dear friend of mine told me this would happen one day, but I hoped we had more time.” He explained.

Just then, the TV screen went static and a sickeningly familiar voice appeared.

“We interrupt this program to bring you an important message from the Nether realm.” A raspy voice said.

“BOO!” A white ghost with red eyes and sharp teeth appeared on screen. “Scared ya didn’t I!?”

“Betrayus…” Spheros said.

“Greetings, Pac Worlders!” He continued. “It’s your mortal enemy, Lord Betrayus, coming to you live, so to speak, from the Nether Realm!”

A purple ghost appeared carrying a silver tray.

“Try our hot wings!” Betrayus said, popping a flaming bat into his mouth. “Mmm! Spicy!”

Spheros frowned at the childish display.

“Ah. By this point, you’ve met my ghostly forces. So now that I have your undivided attention, here are my demands! Surrender unconditionally, or we destroy Pac World! President Spheros, my dear brother, you have one hour to make your choice. Frankly, I don’t care what you chose. For me it’s a win-win! Ciao chumps!”

The screen was then engulfed in flames. It went black for a moment before cutting to the reporter again who was flicking slime off of herself.

“We’re back? We’re alive?” She questioned. “Oh. We now go to the capital where President Spheros will address the nation.”

It cut to the president standing on a podium.

“My fellow Pac Worlders.” He began. “Today we have met the enemies, and they are disgusting. They’re also dead, so that’ll make them tough to kill. But I assure you, as long as I am president, we will never negotiate with ghosts-”

“Blah blah blah!” Betrayus drawled as he watched from the Netherworld. “He does go one doesn’t he? My brother is such a bore!”

He stood up, or rather floated up, as a low rumbling was heard. They followed the sound to see all the ghosts had returned.

“What are you doing back here!?” Betrayus yelled. “You’re supposed to be dismantling Pac World!”

Many of them ignored him and retreated to the shadows to hide.

“We, uh… ran into some trouble…” A cyclops ghost stated.

“What kind of trouble!?” 

The ghost flinched away as his boss got in his face.

“A yellow one!” He cried.

“Oh please. That’s crazy talk!” Betrayus paused as a cloud of eyeballs floated past. “The yellow ones disappeared years ago!” He continued as they flew into a room labeled “Regeneration Chamber”. “Now get out there and trash the place!”

“No dice Mr. B, you told us there weren’t gonna be any yellow ones!” The red ghost said, stepping out of the chamber fully formed again.

“What did I just say?” Betrayus asked, turning to face them. “There aren’t any! The yellow ones are extinct!”

The four ghosts fumed.

“Wrong. WRONG! We saw him, he was there. The chubby yellow boy!” Red insisted.

“Y-yeah.” Blue agreed. “The ghost grabber. The monster muncher.”

“He ATE us man! Gobbled us up!”

“And spat out our eyeballs!” Orange whimpered.

“Have you ever had your eyeballs spat out?” Pinky asked. “HAVE YOU!?”

Betrayus twitched as the girl of the group got in his face.

“They’ve lost their minds, right?” He said.

All the ghosts began recounting their sightings of the boy in fear or even anger, all at once.

“But they were wiped out…” Betrayus mumbled. “At least I thought they were.” His expression went slack. “No… NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”

The room went quiet at their bosses outburst. Betrayus turned back to the cyclops with a look that could kill.

“YOU! Get back out there and find that yellow one!”

“But… Betrayus…”

“No buts!” His eyes wandered to his butler who had a very…. oddly shaped head. “Present company accepted.” He said. “Track down that yellow one! Now, GO!!”

…

Pac groaned as his eyes cracked open.

“Pac!”

He was in Spiral’s arms, bridal style, and being carried to… somewhere.

“How long was I out…?” He croaked.

“Only about a minute. Thank goodness.” Cyli told him.

“We’re taking you back to the dorm rooms… but then we want answers, buddy.”

Pac sighed and leaned against his best friend’s bicep.

“Me too…” he said.

Muuuuuuuuurrgle~ burp.

He moaned and wrapped his arms around his belly.

“My stomach hurts…” he mumbled.

Cyli and Spiral looked at each other in concern. Whatever was going on, wasn’t normal. Not even for Pac it seemed.

…

The ghosts had retreated long before they made it to the dorms. It seemed Pac scared them all off. After resting up and getting all that slime out of his system, they’d talked for a bit and none of them knew what happened. Pac might have been partial to believing that it was all just a dream if his friends hadn’t witnessed his eyeball belch with their own eyes. Eventually, Cyli decided to go check on Skeebo who had run into a wall during his escape and gotten a minor concussion. Thankfully for her, he was still asleep when she got there, meaning she could just take the ring she’d given him at the start of their relationship and be done with it… for now at least.

Pac stared up at the double moons with a hand over his stomach. Those ghosts had tied him being yellow to the fact that he could eat them. Did that mean… all yellow Pac Worlders could? He turned to the picture that sat on his windowsill. In the blue frame stood two adults, one male and one female, and both with yellow skin. The woman was a short lady with a nose similar to his own, red eyes, and red hair. The man was a bit taller with a wide mouth, blue eyes, and brown hair. His parents. They would know what to do…

“... Hey, Cyli.” Spiral greeted as the girl entered the room. “How’s Skeebo doing?”

“Fine.” She said, sitting down on a nearby chair. “They took him to the emergency room to change his diaper.” She smirked.

The boys couldn’t help but laugh at that. They were worried she would take the breakup harder but at least she saw exactly what kind of guy he was now.

“Pac, thanks for saving me out there.” She told him. “I owe ya.”

“Nah, I owe YOU. And… everyone else.” Pac said, turning back to the window.

“How do ya figure?” Spiral asked, getting up from his own chair.

“I let the ghosts out!” He admitted. “I set off some kind of chain reaction in the maze that released them… This is all my fault.”

“You can’t blame yourself.” Spiral said.

“Yeah.” Cyli agreed, joining them at the window. “Let’s blame Skeebo instead.”

Pac grinned wide and Spiral laughed.

“Hah! Good idea!” The jock said.

“The fact is, there’s a passage in there connecting the Nether Realm to Pac World!” Pac said, pointing at the maze. “We need to alert the authorities. And fast!”

Slam!

The three of them turned around in shock as the door was thrown open and guards pooled into the room, all wearing black suits and shades.

“Fast enough for ya?” Spiral asked.

“That’ll do.” Pac said, putting his hands up.

They began escorting the teens out as one of them picked up the potted tree off the windowsill and took it with them.

…

“I didn’t do it on purpose.” Pac explained, frantically.

The three of them were strapped into the back seats of a limo with two guards keeping a close eye on them.

“I just stumbled into the door and it opened! It was a MISTAKE.” He insisted.

“That’s right! A mistake!” Cyli agreed. “So why don’t you just take us home, and we’ll forget the whole thing?” She chuckled.

The guards only continued to stare them down.

“Guess that’s a “no”.” Pac said, miserably.

“Ya think?” Spiral said.

“What I THINK is that I’m in big trouble…”

“Don’t worry, Pac. We’re behind you all the way.” Cyli told him. “No matter what.”

…

“Wait!” Cyli called as she and Spiral were thrown into a cell. “You’ve got it all wrong! Pac’s the one you want, not us!”

“What happened to “we’re behind you all the way”?” Spiral asked as he pressed himself against the bars.

“That was before WE were the ones they threw in the pokey!”

Spiral just shook his head.

…

Pac couldn't stop shaking or looking behind him as he was led down a hall. It was just him and the guard holding his tree at this point but he was more worried about what the other two guards were doing with his friends.

Beep! Beep!

Pac jumped as his phone rang. He looked to the guard who didn’t seem to be paying much attention and answered the incoming call.

“Aunt Spheria?” 

The image of his aunt appeared on the screen. She was an orange woman with grey hair and a square shaped face.

“Pac! I saw the news!  Where are you?! Are you safe?!”  She asked.

Pac cringed.

“I-I’m okay, I promise.” He told her. “The ghosts are gone.”

“Thank goodness.” She sighed. “I’m comin’ over there right now!”

“No!” Pac blurted.

“Well why the heck not!?” The woman demanded.

Pac winced. How did he get himself out of this one?

“L-look. Everyone’s worried about what happened today but the last thing they need is a bunch of worried parents bulldozing through. Just wait a few days ok? I promise I’ll talk to you soon.”

She sighed.

“Alright. But Imma hold ya to that. Now stay safe, ya hear?”

“I will.” He told her.

“I love you, Pac.”

He cracked a smile.

“I love you too.”

She matched his warm smile and ended the call. He was snapped out of his calm moment when the guard opened the door. At his point, Pac was no longer scared, he was just confused… because he was pretty sure this was the president’s office.

“... Mr… President?” Pac said uncertainty.

The black haired man that stood before him sure LOOKED like the man he’d seen running the city.

“Thanks for coming, my boy.” He said.

“I-it’s an honor, sir but…” he shook his head. “Gah… why am I here?... And what did you do with my friends?”

“No need to worry about your friends.” He said, turning to the teen. “Come over here. I want to show you something.

The man wrapped an arm across the boy’s shoulders and led him over to his desk where a single paper was sitting.

“This is a letter sent to me by two of my dearest friends.” He explained, picking it up. “It was sent to me mere days after the end of Pac World War One.”

“Okay…” Pac said. “What's so important that you kept it all this time?”

His smile dropped.

“Because they disappeared directly after sending it…” he looked at Pac’s surprised expression before turning back to the note. “It says: “One day a teen will roll onto the scene. This yellow one, our courageous son, will hold the key to your destiny.” 

Pac held back a smirk and snort. The president noticed anyway. He smiled as well.

“Yes, one of them thought himself a poet but…” 

The two of them laughed in unison and Pac could not believe this was happening.

“My friends always had destiny thrown their way whether they liked it or not. So I believe their words when they told me this. That yellow one is you.” He said, turning back to Pac.

His eyes went wide.

“Me…?” The president nodded. “I’m flunking woodshop!” Pac said, throwing his hands in the air.

“Nonetheless.” Spheros said. “You, young Pac, are our only hope. The fate of our civilization depends on you.”

“Then we… are in deep trouble.”

…

Back in the cellar, Cyli was banging on the bars with a cup in a steady rhythm, asking multiple questions as she smiled knowingly.

“What’s your favorite color?! Where’d you get those glasses?! Got any gum?!”

Meanwhile, Spiral was playing atrociously on the harmonica and singing:

“I got the jail house blues! The low down jailhouse bluuuuues!!”

*aggressive harmonica noises*

Those guards were bound to crack any second.

…

Spheros placed Pac’s tree in front of him on the table.

“Tell me about this plant of yours.” He said.

“It’s from my parents.” Pac explained. “It was the last thing they gave me before they…” he looked at the floor. “I didn’t know them very well.”

“I did.” 

“Really?!” Pac said, eyes lighting up. “You knew my mom and dad!?”

Spheros gestured to the letter as he got up to fetch something. Pac scanned over the note again and found the signatures at the very bottom. 

“Zack and Sunny Bak.” He read out loud. “Those are my parents' names!”

He hopped up as the president handed him a photo. In it stood Spheros (though he lacked his white mustache and gray streaks) next to Pac’s parents.

“Wow…” he breathed. “S-so could they eat ghosts too!? Could all of the yellow ones?!”

“Not all of them.” Spheros explained. “But your parents could. And they were great assets to banishing the ghosts to the nether world. Unfortunately, they lost their ability to do so near the end of the war, but they believed you would hold this ability even stronger than they had.”

“How?”

“Well, ghost eaters tend to have a certain… never ending appetite to them.” He said, as his eyes fell to Pac’s stomach.

It growled just as he did that. Pac folded his hands over his belly with a nervous chuckle.

“Heheh… yeah…” He admitted.

Spheros put a hand on his shoulder before continuing.

“You’re parents left you a legacy far beyond this one tiny fruit plant.” He continued. “They were the last of their kind… except for you of course. For centuries the yellow ones ruled over our civilization. Spreading peace and brotherhood. But one day, commander Betrayus led a violent revolt against our nation. Ultimately, Betrayus’s forces were defeated. Along with his minions, he was stripped of his corporeal body, and the spirits were sentenced to the Nether World for eternity. But now, the ghosts have broken free.”

Pac’s gaze lowered to the floor.

“Thanks to me…” he said, the tree (or more specifically the berries) catching his eye again.

“Get over it.” Spheros told him. “Betrayus plans to conquer us, he thinks we’ll offer no resistance. But he’s wrong.” Pac had started to munch on berries at this point and was barely paying attention. “For you are the last of the yellow ones. And you will save our civilization.” He stopped when he realized he didn’t have to teen’s full attention.

“Huh?” He said, still chewing. “Sorry.” He said, popping another berry in his mouth. “Got hungry.”

Spheros patiently rolled his eyes.

“So, how do I do the whole, saving civilization thing?” Pac asked, trying to get back on track.

“It’s all in the ghost fighting powers of the berries.” He said, gesturing to the plant.

“These? I never knew they gave me powers.” Pac said, holding one over his mouth. “I just knew they made me hungry.”

He let it fall into his mouth with a smile.

“Ah, but they DO give you powers. Extraordinary powers.”

“… let’s say that’s true… It’s a pretty small tree.” Pac pointed out. “No way there’s enough to defeat all the ghosts in the Nether World.”

Spheros smiled and clicked a button. They both turned as a tunnel opened up in the wall. And on the other side of it was…

“Wow…” Pac said. “I stand corrected.”

An enormous tree stood before them. Leaves and trunk exactly like Pac’s tree only roughly 50 times bigger and FULL of berries.

“This is Pac World’s Tree of Life.” The president announced. “The very soul of our existence. If any misfortune were to befall it, our planet would perish, allowing Betrayus’s army to turn our planet into a ghost world. We cannot let that happen…”

Pac head tilted longingly as he looked up at the tree.

“So many different berries…” he sighed.

The door opened and closed behind them once more and they turned around to see Cyli and Spiral.

“Well, it seems we have company.” Spheros said as Pac smiled wide. “Couldn’t handle a couple of kids?”

The two guards looked down in defeat as Pac ran over to them.

“It’s about time you guys got here.” He beamed. “I can’t save the whole planet on my own you know.”

The two of them shared confused looks before turning to the retreating guards.

“See ya guys!” Cyli called. “Say hi to the wife. Oh! And be SURE to tell her about that skin cream I mentioned. It rules.” She said with a wink.

The taller guard smiled and gave her a thumbs up before walking out the door with a wave.

“So, what did we miss?” Spiral asked.

That was when they noticed the giant tree.

“Whoaaaa…” They said in unison.

“What’s with the mondo tree?” Cyli asked.

“It’s only the key to our very survival.” Pac said. “See those berries? They have serious juice.”

“I-I believe you mean power.” The president corrected. “Serious POWER.”

“Whatever.” Pac shrugged, still eyeing them with a hungry gaze.

“As I was saying.” He continued. “We’re not sure what powers come with each berry, but we do know that they all give you the ability to defeat ghosts.”

“How?” Pac asked.

“You must eat them.”

“Eat the berries!?” Pac grinned. “I can DO that!” He said with a thumbs up.

“Y-yes… then you eat the ghosts.”

Pac went pale.

“O-oh no no way, been there done that, NO thank you.” Pac said, waving his arms around.

Cyli and Spiral cringed at the memory of Pac clutching his sour stomach in pain as he recounted what had happened to him.

“But to defeat them you must eat them.” Spheros told him sternly. “You have to eat the ghosts.”

Pac was about to press further when the room started flashing red. An alarm rang loudly and the president’s assistant appeared in the doorway.

“Mr. President. Ghost swarm! Heading this way!” He told them.

“There’s more I need to tell you about your parents-” Spheros said.

But he was cut off from continuing as the ground started to shake. His bodyguards promptly grabbed him and dragged him out of the room.

“You can do it, son!” He said. “We’re all counting on you!”

And that’s when the ghosts swarmed in, all around them. Pac found himself clenching his fists at the sight.

“Go with the president.” He said to his friends. “I’ll protect the tree.”

“Right.” Spiral said.

“Got it!” Cyli nodded.

They ran in opposite directions, Pac towards the tree and his friends away from it. The boy jumped and grabbed one of the vines, using its momentum to swing himself into the tree. He landed on a branch and gulped down a glowing yellow berry. He felt an odd energy envelop his body and grinned as it literally lifted him into the air. He flew up above the tree, testing out his new found ability for only a moment before getting to work. 

Pac opened his mouth wide and gobbled down his first ghost, a small scared one, before immediately slurping down another with long tentacles. The feeling of slime sliding down his throat and pooling in his stomach was slightly less nauseating this time but they still tasted awful. Regardless, he continued onwards. He flipped over a guard that was being lifted into the air by a red ghost and sucked it down no problem. Then gulping down an entire row of them that proved unsuccessful in trying to get away from him. After a few more, he had to land, placing his hands over his gurgling stomach and taking a deep breath with a small sound that was a cross between a groan, a sigh, and an odd “oof” of general discomfort. The slime was sitting a little better but not by much, not to mention there was so much more of it than last time. He looked over his shoulder at an orange ghost that was literally GLOWING with heat.

“Uh oh.” He said to himself. “I’m gonna need to see a gastroenterologist after this.”

He gave his stomach a firm rub before turning to a band of ghosts that was trying to dismantle one of the tree’s defenses. He ran at full speed and jumped on them, causing them to scatter as he launched himself into the air again. He snagged a blue berry as he was passing by and threw it into his mouth. Anything to get the taste of slime out of his mouth and possibly give him an edge against this thing. He continued to fly towards it as it sucked in a breath, getting ready to breathe fire. Just then, a frost began to encase Pac’s skin, turning it to a pale blue, as his hair froze into a sort of ice helmet that swooped backwards. He grinned and continued onwards. An ice berry was perfect for a fire ghost. Just as it was about to shoot fire, Pac chomped it down.

Burble~

Pac slowed down as the ice melted from his skin, turning yellow once again. 

“Uuuuuuugh…” He groaned, placing his hands over his glowing hot belly. “Talk about heartburn…”

Most of the ghosts were running away at this point… including a familiar quadrette of trouble makers.

“Hey! I know you guys!” Pac said, pointing at them.

“Uh oh!” The orange one cried.

The four of them rushed out of the room with Pac hot on their trail. He followed them back into the president’s office and chased them around the room a few times before they sank into the desk and tried to hide. Pac landed and looked in on them upside down. They gasped in fear.

“No, please!” The red one begged. “Don’t eat us and spit out our eyeballs! Not again!”

“Besides! We taste awful!” Orange reasoned.

Pac jumped down so he was looking at the right side up.

“That’s true.” He agreed.

“Yeah! Especially Pinky!” The blue one said, pointing to his pink companion.

“Hey! Do not!” She insisted.

“Do too!”

“Do not!”

“Enough!” Pac yelled. He sighed and let his arms fall to his sides. “Let’s get this over with.”

He began opening and closing his mouth in a rapid fashion, making an odd “waka waka” sound as he did so.

“Can’t we work something out!?” The red one begged, flinching away.

“What do you mean?” Pac asked after pulling away.

“You know. Make a deal. Between us.” Red continued.

“Y-y-yeah!” Blue agreed. “You scratch our back a-and we scratch yours.” He then proceeded to make an awkward scratching motion with his fingerless hands.

Pac thought for a moment. He knew he probably shouldn’t but… his stomach was still doing somersaults over all the slime in it and bubbling like an active volcano after that fire ghost. It probably wouldn’t kill anyone to leave a few un eaten ghosts.

“Well… alright.” He agreed. “But I don’t want any more trouble out of any of you. GOT IT?”

The ghosts all broke into huge grins at that and started agreeing. The pink ghost, he was pretty sure her name was Pinky, floated up to him.

“By the way. I happen to know that I taste delicious.” She told him with a wink.

Pac knew that very much to be untrue. But he guessed her taste had been mashed together with the rest of her buddies so… he’d give her the benefit of the doubt.

“O...Kay…?” Pac said. “I’ll keep that in mind uh… Pinky?”

She gave him a warm smile.

“What are the rest of your names?” He asked.

They looked a little shocked at that question but answered anyway.

“Inky.” The blue one said.

“Blinky.” Said the red.

“Clyde.” Orange finished off.

“Nice to… meet you Inky, Blinky, Pinky and Clyde.” Pac said. “I’m Pac.”

They all grinned at him. He stood back up and looked over the desk to see his friends all coming out of hiding, all unharmed. The president’s assistant was hiding under a table, Spiral was bridal style in the president’s arms, and Cyli stepped out from behind a lamp to wave at him.

“Looks like we beat ‘em back this time!” Pac cheered.

“Not so much!”

They turned to see the bodyguards frantically running towards them.

“The tree of life!” The shorter one cried. “It’s… It’s GONE!”

Pac felt his world crumble around him. He gasped and ran to the window with his friends. There they were. All the ghosts he couldn’t stomach, making away with the foundation of their planet.

“It’s over…” Pac said in defeat. “We lost…”

A sickening cackle enveloped the room as the TV turned to an image of Betrayus lounging on a red velvet chair.

“The tree is mine!” He announced. “And that means it’s lights out for Pac World. No ifs ands or buts! Uh, present company accepted.” He continued to cackle before choking momentarily. “Hey! Who put a cherry in my drink!? Whatever. Where was I? Oh yeah! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!”

Pac glared at the screen… at least until the nausea proved a bit too much for him. He moaned and doubled over in defeat, letting the sound of Betrayus’s cackling cut into him like a razor sharp whip. His first ever shot at doing something good and important for the world… and he blew it. 

Chapter Text

The outside of the roundhouse was seen as the reporter recounted the events.

“Aftershocks continue in the wake of the super natural attack on our nation’s capital just moments ago.” Her voice spoke.

“My fellow Pac Worlders.” The president took over. “I come to you tonight to assure you that the state of our union is strong.” The whole building seemed to shake only moments after his words. “With periods of severe shakiness.” He admitted. “We have survived an unprecedented attack from the Nether Realm. But the battle is far from over. I’ve placed our security forces on red alert in the event of further hostility. But we must all do our part. I ask each of you to be cautious. I ask each of you to be fearless. I ask each of you…” He paused as the ground shook again. He dived under his desk for a moment only to pop back up wearing a white helmet. “To wear a helmet! Otherwise you could get hit on the head! The whole place is falling apart!”

Debris then proceeded to fall on top of him, proving his point. Pac and his friends stepped forwards in concern only for the president to appear next to them moments later.

“And it’s going to get worse unless we recover the tree of life.” Spheros explained. “Without that tree, it’s only a matter of time before all of Pac World comes crashing down!”

What looked to be a large battery then proceeded to fall out of the roof.

“Then there’s only one thing left to do.” Pac said.

“Exactly.” Spiral agreed.

“We have to go to the Nether Realm and bring back the tree of life!” Pac finished.

“Oh. I was thinking we should move to another planet.” Spiral said, holding up a suitcase.

They chose to ignore that last statement and move on.

“But, Pac, If we went inside the Nether Realm, the ghosts would eat us alive.” Cyli brought up.

“Not if I eat them first!” Pac said with a fake grin.

“How?” Spiral asked. “They took the Power Palm. And the power berries.”

Pac looked to the floor. He hadn’t thought about that.

“Not all of them.” Spheros responded.

The three teens turned to see Spheros taking Pac’s tree out from under the debris. On it hung three lone berries, all glowing purple.

“Those should help.” Pac grinned.

“But once we’re in there, how will we find the tree?” Spiral asked.

“I think I know who can help.” He said, putting up a finger.

…

“Ugh. It’s not a country club. We’re not allowed to bring guests!” Pinky told them.

Pac, Cyli, Spiral, and the president all stood in a dark room with Inky, Blinky, Pinky, and Clyde in a containment field.

“We had a deal, remember?” Pac said. “If I didn’t eat you, you’d owe me one.”

“But we can’t sneak you inside! Betrayus would vaporize us.” Blinky told them.

“Yeah, turn us into… swamp gas.” Inky agreed.

“Disintegrate our spectro-plasm!” Clyde added.

“Which would negatively impact my very busy social life.” Pinky finished.

“Then again… I haven’t had breakfast yet… I guess I could just eat all four of you right now…” Pac threatened.

“Noooo!” They all screamed in unison.

“Okay, okay, you win!” Blinky told them. “So if we sneak you inside, what’s in it for us?”

Pac was about to pull out the eating card again but he honestly felt bad for scaring them so much, so… he thought against it.

“I don’t know… what do you want?” 

“We want out!” Pinky told them. “We’re sick of the Nether Realm. It’s hot and it smells like feet!”

“We want to live in Pac World.” Inky said.

“But… to do that, we need our corporeal bodies back.” Clyde said.

The three teens paused before turning to the president.

“It’s never been done before.” He admitted. “The process could destroy you! No, it’s too risky.”

Blinky stared at him with a blank expression.

“Now which way is it to the Nether Realm?” He bluffed.

“Gee, I forget.” Pinky said, playing along.

“Me, too.”

“Uh, me three?”

Spheros sighed.

“If the mission proves successful, we’ll do all we can to restore your physical bodies.” He told them.

He then pressed a button that lowered the anti ghost force field. The ghosts grinned and flew around happily.

“DEAL!” They cheered, floating over to shake their hands.

“This could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship.” Pinky grinned at Pac.

“Eeeeew!” Cyli cried, her hands covered in blue slime.

“Disgusting.” The president agreed, his hands covered in orange muck.

“... Or maybe not.”

“We’ll still need a bit of time before we can send you over there.” The president said. “I have to contact someone and provide you with the necessary tools. It’ll take a little less than a day.”

“We’ll set out first thing after school, then.” Pac announced.

…

School had not been the break they’d hoped it was. It was a minor miracle that school hadn’t been canceled that day. It wasn’t chaos at least. Most people seemed to be in shock. They didn’t talk about what had happened. The ghost attack, the tree of life being stolen… and the implications of what that meant for their future… or if they would even have one. The trio saw kids crying in the halls. Staring fearfully out the window during class. Screaming in terror at each earthquake that shook through the school.

…. Needless to say… the pressure was on.

“I thought you hated the cafeteria's mixed meat stew, Pac.” Spiral said as they sat down at a nearby table.

“I do.” Pac said.

“... Then why did you order an extra large serving of it?”

Pac shrugged as he stared dejected down at the pile of mush on his plate. There were very few food options that Pac disliked but the school lunch ladies always managed to majorly mess up their stew. Usually, not even Pac would touch it. 

Cyli didn’t really understand what she was looking at here. Last time she’d seen the yellow teen eat… well… she hadn’t. Cuz everything was gone before she even got there. She knew that eating made him happy at least, but now he was slowly munching away at a plate of something he clearly didn’t enjoy, looking miserable. She thought back to the night before. How utterly defeated he looked when the ghosts beat them that day. 

“Pac, you don’t need to punish yourself.” She told him.

He went stiff at that accusation but didn’t look at her.

“I’m not punishing anyone.” He said, lifting up a spoonful of the stew. “I know it might be hard to believe but ghosts don’t taste good. Maybe if I eat stuff that tastes bad it’ll make me more resistant to them?”

“I don’t think that’s how that works, bro.” Spiral said, taking a bite of his burger.

“Yeah, and even if it did work they would still give you indigestion.” Cyli told him.

Pac looked at her like she’d grown another head.

“Huh?”

“Indigestion.” Cyli repeated. “You know, when you eat something that doesn’t agree with you?”

He blinked

“…. Makes you feel sick? Like your stomach hurts and you're nauseous and gassy and wanna throw up?”

“... That doesn’t happen to me.” Pac told her.

“Wait… like never?”

He shook his head.

“Not even when you’ve eaten something that’s gone bad, or if you eat too much?”

The boys actually snorted at that.

“Have you seen me eat? I never get full.” He told her.

“Never?”

“Nope.”

“Huh… well that’ll sure come in handy against ghosts.”

“You bet it will.” Spiral said, smacking Pac on the back. “And you’ll get used to ghosts eventually, bro. After a while they’ll go down easier.”

“You think so?” Pac asked, hopefully.

“We know so.” Cyli told him, reaching over to place a hand on one of his own.

Pac looked her in the eyes with a soft smile. She smiled back.

“So there’s no need to tourcher yourself with this slop.” Spiral said, nudging his tray with a fork. “Go toss it and get yourself some real food.”

“No need to waste it.” Pac said with a grin.

He then proceeded to lift the bowl up and slurp it all back in two seconds flat. He gaged a bit at the taste but Cyli still gawked at the display. He licked his lips before getting up and running back to the serving table with a huge grin across his face.

“How does he do that?” She asked Spiral.

“The world may never know.” He winked at her.

She laughed and continued to eat her lunch. She felt a bit awkward sitting and eating lunch with him. It felt like they’d only just met yesterday (which they had) and like they’d known eachother their whole lives (which they most certainly hadn’t) all at the same time. And to top it all off, she’d never really eaten in the lunch room before. When she’d first gotten there, it had been too loud and crowded for her to handle and she’d already brought a packed lunch, so she just took her food outside and ate there. It was certainly less stressful but also made her feel even more disconnected from the school. So now that she was sitting there, next to a real friend instead of her egotistical (ex)boyfriend, she felt at peace.

“Cyli!”

Her smile dropped. So did Spiral’s. 

“... Hi Skeebo.” She greeted him with a blank expression.

“Why didn’t you text me last night?” He asked, pulling up a chair and sitting next to her.

She frowned. Guess he didn’t get the memo. She sighed.

“Skeebo, we need to talk.”

“Yeah we do.” He responded, ignoring her. “Like what are you doing with THAT guy?” He said, shooting Spiral a look. “You know wherever he goes the lemon drop follows.”

“We’re friends now.” She told him.

He scoffed.

“Are you serious? You’re hanging out with the lemon loser and his bodyguard?”

She opened her mouth to defend her friends but he was already continuing.

“Whatever. We’ll talk about your taste in friends later. Look, I lost the ring you gave me in all the commotion so I was wondering if you could help me find it.” He said. “It was like the first thing you ever gave me so I-”

“I have it.” She told him.

“Oh! You found it?”

“No. I took it.”

The blue skinned jock paused at that.

“We need to talk.” She told him. “In private.”

“ARE YOU BREAKING UP WITH ME!?”

Everyone turned to face them as Skeebo stood to his feet in front of her. Guess they were doing this here instead… 

“Yes.” She told him, standing up. “We’re over, Skeebo.”

“Cyli, if this is about what happened on the roof-”

“IT’S NOT JUST ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED ON THE ROOF!” Cyli yelled. “Believe it or not, it’s not just about the fact that you left me for dead in the clutches of a ghost!”

The room gasped at that.

“It’s everything else you’ve ever done!” She continued. “You’re a bully, and a coward, and I let you control my life and who I got to be friends with because I thought you cared about me! But you only care about yourself! Real friends are the people who you can share test scores, or talk about homework with!” She said, eyeing Sherry. “They’re the people who consol you when you’re confused and don’t know what to do!” She turned to Spiral. “They’re the people who SAVE YOU FROM THE GHOSTS YOUR BOYFRIEND LEFT YOU FOR DEAD IN THE CLUTCHES OF!” She shouted, pointing to Pac.

The yellow teen froze like a deer in headlights. All eyes were on him. And he did. Not. Like. It.

“So, yes. We’re through.” Cyli concluded.

At this point, Skeebo was fuming.

“Maybe you’re through with me but I’m not through with you.” He growled.

“Leave me alone.” She ordered.

He grabbed her arm and just as she was about to wrench herself free… 

“HEY!”

They both spun around to see Pac standing right behind the blue bully. Pac hated making himself the center of attention… but in that moment… he didn’t care.

“She said, LEAVE HER ALONE.” He glared.

“Yeah, back off, Skeebs!” Spiral said, pushing him off of his friend.

“You don’t get to treat her that way!” Sherry said, voice strong. “Boyfriend or not!”

The lunch room erupted into shouts of agreement. Skeebo was quickly chewed out by the rest of the school at this new information. Cyli felt tears well up in her eyes at all this. To have everyone standing up and defending her like this… It was overwhelming. A yellow arm wrapped around her shoulders and Cyli buried herself in his white shirt.

“I’m gonna take Cyli outside to cool off.” Pac told Spiral. “Make sure Skeebo doesn’t follow us.”

The tall teen nodded as Pac slowly led his crying friend out of the cafeteria.

They were only a few steps out before the silence was broken.

“Are you okay?” Pac asked.

Cyli sniffed with a smile.

“Yes. Thank you.” She said.

“Hey, no problem.” He told her. “It’s like you said… real friends, right?”

She giggled and hugged him.

“Right.”

Pac seemed a little like he didn’t know what to do with himself, but eventually he hugged back. They stayed there in a comfortable silence… 

Groooowwwll~

At least until his stomach growled.

“You aren’t serious.” Cyli tearfully laughed.

His face turned red.

“Well I WAS just about to get seconds before you decided to make a public announcement in front of the whole school.”

Cyli gasped and pulled away.

“Oh no… What was I thinking!” She said, facepalming. “Oh that was SO BAD. People are gonna be whispering about this for MONTHS!” She cracked a look at him. “I’m so sorry I dragged you into this. AND interrupted your meal.”

“Hey, it’s okay.” He told her. “I should probably stay empty anyways. You know, fit more ghosts inside…”

“I thought you said you never got full.” Cyli questioned.

“Yeah, but I never got indigestion before now either. First time for everything.” He said, flashing a dorky smile.

She giggled and hugged him again, enjoying the warmth of his body.

“Thank you for standing up for me…” She repeated.

“You already said that.”

“I know, but I mean it.”

“You’re following me into the Nether Realm, Cyli. The least I can do is defend you against your jerky ex.”

She laughed and Pac’s stomach growled again.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” She asked.

“I’m fine… but if you’re feeling better I wouldn’t mind going back for seconds?”

“What happened to staying empty?”

“I forgot how much hunger sucks in the three seconds it took to say that.”

They practically cackled at that.

“Alright.” She said with a smile. “Let’s go finish up. We’re gonna need our strength.”

…

As promised, right after school, the teens and their ghostly allies ran into the maze carrying only their backpacks and nothing else. They ran through the maze quickly and with little to no direction for thirty minutes before finally figuring out that something wasn’t right. They all stopped to breathe.

“Okay, which way is the gate to the Nether Realm?” Pac asked.

“It’s that way, Blinky.”

“No it’s not, Pinky.”

“Like you would know, Inky!”

“Ugh! Better than you, Clyde!”

“You’d get lost in a thought, Inky!”

“You take that back, Blinky!”

“Try and make me, Inky!”

“It’s this way, Pinky!”

“No way, Clyde!”

Cyli whistled loudly to get their attention. They all turned to the teens in surprise as if they’d forgotten they were there.

“Do any of you know where it is?” Pac said with a firm frown.

“... Not a clue.” They said in unison.

“This is getting stinky.” Cyli said with a glare.

Pinky returned the girl’s look with an offended one. Pac just sighed and waved for everyone to follow him.

“Who’s stinky? I’m not stinky. I’m PINKY. I smell GOOD!” Pinky insisted as they followed the teens through the maze.

It took a while and a bit of guesswork but eventually Pac recognized where they were and led them into the ghost temple.

“Found it!” Pac cheered.

“Right where I said it would be.” Clyde grinned.

“Did not!”

“Come on!” Blinky said, cutting them off. “Let’s roll.”

Pac took his berry tree out of the metal container he was carrying it in and then took out a circular communication device.

“We’re going in Mr. President.” Pac informed him.

“Pac world is counting on you kids.” Spheros said. “Now remember, the power from the berries will keep you safe in the Nether Realm’s toxic atmosphere for only so long. Once the effects wear off…”

“What’ll happen to us?’ Spiral asked, leaning over Pac’s shoulder.

“According to our research…” He stopped and stared at a screen in his hand with wide eyes.

He made several different faces of either horror, concern, or disgust before his eye twitched.

“Bad things.” He finally said.

“Like… what?”

The president plastered on a sheepish smile and hid the screen behind his back.

“Just get the tree of life out of there fast, so you won't have to find out!” He told them.

Pac nodded and carefully plucked off the three berries on the tree, handing the extra two to his friends. He popped it into his mouth and felt his body grow a size. Cyli and Spiral did the same, but gagged afterwards. Pac found hope in the similarities between the berries and ghosts. Hopefully he’d gain an acquired taste for them as he had the berries.

“Mr. President, we’ll come back as soon as possible… with the tree of life.” Pac informed him.

The screen shut off and Pac pocketed it just before Blinky pulled the lever and the floor opened up under them. The three of them screamed as they fell down the hole with their ghostly companions leisurely floating after them.

…

The portal spat them out the other end with Pac landing on Spiral and Cyli landing on Pac, turning the group of friends into a weird, dizzy, pyramid.

“Ugh…” Pac groaned, pushing himself and Cyli off of Spiral. “Is everyone okay?”

“Yeah…” Cyli and Spiral said, sounding dazed.

“Better get a move on, you three.” Blinky told them. “No tellin’ what’s gonna pop out at ya if we stay here.”

The three of them began to follow the ghosts but not before they looked around in awe… or horror… or both. The nether world was built roughly like Pac World only everything was made of stone. Not a plant or animal in sight. Not to mention the fact that the sky was a gloomy gray color even though there wasn't a cloud in sight.

“Watch your step.” Blinky told them. “The steps here are pretty wobbly.”

The ghosts lead them down a shaky stairway.

“They’re not just wobbly…” Pac said as he struggled not to fall over. “They’re moving!”

Suddenly, the stone turned red beneath their feet. They all turned to see the head of a one eyed dragon staring straight at them. These weren’t stairs. They were a dragon’s spine!

“You took the wrong staircase, Blinky!” Pinky accused.

“Don’t start with me, Pinky!”

They didn’t have the chance to carry this conversation any further though because the dragon decided to breathe fire on them. They all jumped off the dragon’s back and made a run for it. It continued to chase them but Pac tripped and fell into a hole. Thankfully the dragon didn’t notice but it backed Cyli and Spiral into a corner and let out a mighty roar!... that was cut short when it’s eye widened as it looked back. 

Pac, in a moment of desperation, had grabbed the beast’s tail… and bit down on it. The dragon roared again, this time in pain because dang if Pac didn’t have strong jaws, and took to the sky with the yellow teen still stuck to its tail. It flew around, trying to shake him off, but Pac was persistent and went in for another bite. Once again it cried out in pain and blew fire back at him. Thankfully, Pac jumped off just in time to escape the fire… not only that, but the dragon had unknowingly set its own tail on fire and frantically flew into a wall, trying to put it out. Pac winced as it fell to the floor in a heap before calling out to his friends.

“This way!”

They followed him into a closed off passageway and continued on their trip.

“Nice job, you made enough noise to wake the dead!” Blinky scolded Pac.

“Literally.” Clyde whimpered.

They all looked back to see a swarm of ghosts coming over the tall cliffs of rock.

“Securty’s everywhere, this could get ugly.” Blinky said. “We’ve gotta disguise you.”

“As what?” Pac asked.

“As ghosts!” He told them with a grin.

Inky and Pinky each picked up a metal beaker and began pouring their contents over Cyli and Spiral. The liquid was green and viscous and smelled HORRIBLE. They yelped and gagged as it ran down their bodies.

“UGH! Gag me!” Spiral yelped.

“It smells like sewage!” Cyli said. “What IS this stuff!?”

Pinky looked at the label before turning it to them.

“Sewage.” She confirmed.

The three of them groaned in disgust.

After being properly covered in the glowing sludge, then continued down the crevasse towards a large ghost with a beard.

“I’m sure THIS will work out well..” Pac said, nervously.

“Halt!” The  ghost sentinel ordered, spinning his staff. “Who goes there!?

“Just, little old us.” Pinky said with a smile. “Inky, Blinky, Pinky, and Clyde.”

“And who are THESE three?” He asked, pushing past them and pointing at the Pac Worlders.

“Oh! This is Dinky,” She said, pointing to Pac. “Finky,” she pointed to Spiral. “And particularly Stinky.”

“Stinky?” Cyli whispered with a sneer.

“You started it, girlfriend.” Pinky whispered back. “They’re ghosts too. See?”

The three of them tried to play up the ghost act but the guard wasn’t buying it.

“They’re not ghosts!” He said. “I can’t see through ‘em!”

The teen’s looked down at their bodies. They’re forgotten that part…

“Touche.” Pinky gave in. “Well played.”

“We can’t get anything past you.” Clyde added before whispering. “Fact is, these three are our prisoners. Very hush hush, top secret.”

“Yeah, w-we caught em ourselves.” Inky grinned.

“You didn’t catch these three.” The ghost said. “Wanna know what I think?”

“Not especially..” Blinky told him.

“I think you’re helping these Pac Worlders sneak in here and steal back the tree of life!”

Pac, Cyli, and Spiral froze in fear but the ghost gang did not.

“What!?” Blinky said. “Wowowowhahahaa! That is crazy!”

“Why would we do such a kooky thing?!” Inky said.

“That is so nutty!” Clyde told him.

“Why would you think that?” Pinky asked.

The ghost sentinel broke into a huge smile and laughed.

“I don’t know! It just seem like-like a possibility!”

The Pac Worlders watched in befuddlement as the ghosts all broke into laughter.

“That is WILD!” They all said in unison before falling to the floor.

They continued to laugh as Pac and his friends snuck passed.

“Gotta run!” Blinky said, taking off with the rest of his friends once the Pac Worlders were clear.

The ghost continued to laugh for a moment, muttering “crazy” before finally noticing what was happening.

“Hey! Come back here!”

They continued to run until they entered a gateway. They stopped to shake off their slime disguises before seeing the swarm of ghosts coming for them. That was their cue to keep running through the archway and out onto the net of bridges that surrounded Betrayus’s fortress… and did I mention it was hanging over lava?

Pac slid to a stop as his friends kept running and looked back on the approaching ghosts. He put on a determined face and charged. Once they realized what he was doing, the ghosts cowered and tried to run away. But Pac was too fast. The sentinel ghost was gulped down no problem and then he moved onto the rest. Meanwhile, Spiral was being chased by another band of them. But just as they were about to nab him, he whipped out a red and blue cannon contraption and fired a ray at one of them. The energy encased a tentacle ghost in a circular force field and then sucked it into the machine. A few feet away, Cyli back handspringed over a group of ghosts before whipping out her own pink and white version of it and doing the same thing.

Any ghost that hadn’t been sucked up or eaten ran away and the battle was won.

“I didn’t know you brought those!” Pac said.

“What did you think we had in our backpacks?” Cyli asked.

“Lunch.” Pac grinned.

His smile dropped as he felt a familiar rumbling in his belly. He belched out a small cloud of eyeballs with a frown and a hand over his stomach. The pain was getting better but it was still uncomfortable. He burped again and put a hand over his mouth.

“Uh… anyone got a mint?” He asked, rubbing his nose, sheepishly.

Pinky giggled as he continued to nervously smile at her. She smiled back… and then Cyli and Spiral’s cannons exploded and the ghosts they caught were released.

“This might be a really good time to move along.” Pinky told them.

So they did. The group continued to the large cragily building. Every now and then, Pac would look back to see if anyone was following them and Pinky noticed every time.

“The round one keeps looking at me…” Pinky giggled. “I think he likes me.”

“You’re goofy.” Clyde told her.

“No, I’m Pinky! You forgot my name?! What’s wrong with you!?”

Then she floated behind him and proceeded to push him along. 

The team entered a room and hid behind one of the walls. In it… was the tree of life.

“There it is!” Pac cheered. “Let’s grab it!”

Pac rushed forwards but Clyde grabbed him by the ankles, causing him to fall over with a grunt.

“Hold your horsepower.” Blinky told him. “We’ve got a problem.”

“Actually, three problems.” Inky said, pointing.

Lying asleep in front of the tree was a three headed poodle.

“The three headed demon dog.” Inky told them.

“Or as we like to call him: Fluffy.” Pinky cooed.

Fluffy happened to wake up at that moment. And as soon as he saw them, he jumped out at them and turned gray with red eyes. The teens jumped back in fear as he continued to bite at them, only stopped by the chain around his neck.

“The middle one’s a sweetheart.” Pinky informed them. “The other two I could do without.”

“The middle one looks mean!” Pac said, pointing at it’s bloodthirsty expression.

“They’re all mean.” Pinky told him.

“So why is he a sweetheart?”

“Well, after he chews you to ribbons, he sends you a get well card. Very thoughtful. The other two, not even a phone call. They couldn’t care less!”

Pac and his friends shared a look before putting their game faces on.

“Let’s Pac 'em up!” He told them.

The three teens began running towards the canine, ready for a fight at the same time as Fluffy lunged at them. They continued closer and closer, the tension building right up to-!

CRASH!

A cage fell right on top of them.

“Huh?”

Just then, Betrayus appeared.

“Boo!” He grinned.

The teenagers screamed, and their ghost friends gasped.

…

Betrayus howled with laughter as his butler pointed the camera to the three kids in a cage.

“Take a look at your last hope, Pac World!” He said. “The yellow one! You’re savior is locked up in the Nether Realm!”

…

Pac World watched their screens, some in confusion and some in horror.

“Is that Pac?”

“What are those kids doing there?”

“Cyli!”

“Why’s Spiral in the Nether Realm!?”

“What are they doing there?!”

…

“And without your precious tree of life, dear brother,” Betrayus continued. “You can kiss your civilization goodbye!”

Spheros scowled at the screen with a deep, seething rage.

“STRATOS!”

The man jumped as an image of an orange woman popped up on screen.

“WHAT IN THE WORLD IS MY BOY DOING IN THAT PLACE!?” She demanded.

She tried to look angry but he could see tears forming in the corners of her scrunched up eyes. The president looked at her with a solemn expression.

“I’m sorry, Spheria.” He told her. “I was out of options. And I think Zac and Sunny would have wanted him to stand up the way he did.”

“Zac and Sunny would have wanted him to be safe!” Spheria insisted, tears streaming down her face.

Another tremor shook the ground.

“I don’t think there’s anywhere in the world he would be much safer anymore…”

…

Betrayus’s laughter echoed through the streets of Pacopolis. The ground shook, balls of fire rained down from the sky, buildings were up in flames… this really was the end.

…

Back in the Nether Realm, Betrayus stood in front of Pac’s cell with an evil grin.

“You know, lemon ball. You remind me of your parents.” He told him.

“You knew them!?” Pac blurted.

“Very well.” Betrayus confirmed. “They were almost as gullible as you! HAHAHA! The saps!”

Pac glared at him through the bars.

“I have a few things of theirs I’m sure they’d want you to have.” He informed the boy, much to his dismay. “But! I’m gonna keep ‘em. Just to torment you!”

He broke into laughter again as Pac slumped.

“You know, Pac. I never would have caught you if it hadn’t been for my… close allies.” He gestured to the doorway.

Inky, Blinky, Pinky, and Clyde floated out with guilty expressions stricken across their faces. Pac’s face fell once more, betrayal clear in his eyes.

“You said you owed me one!”

“And… we lied.” Blinky said. “We do that a lot. We’re expert liars.”

“But we had a deal!”

“You can’t make deals with ghosts!” Betrayus cackled.

“We’re notoriously untrustworthy…” Clyde told him.

“Yes you are, my four portages.” Betrayus agreed, proudly. “You played them like a symphony.”

He began leading them out of the room, each of them with their heads tilted down. Pinky slowed to a stop and looked back at the three teens… but was only met with an angry glare from Pac and his friends. She floated out of the room with a defeated look across her solemn face.

“There go our “pals”.” Spiral growled.

Just then, their bodies began to shrink. They all called out in confusion and discomfort as their forms shifted to one size lower than their originals.

“And there go our powers…” Pac said.

…

Inky, Blinky, Pinky, and Clyde silently watched as their boss continued to gloat about his victory.

“As for you, my loyal advisors, I have a very SPECIAL assignment.” The ghost told them.

“Oh… yay. Lucky us.” Pinky said, forcing a smile.

“You must destroy the yellow one and his friends!” Betrayus announced.

The ghosts shared a horrified look as they were handed a black ray gun.

“Destroy them?” They said in unison.

“You mean…?”

“Erase them from existence…” Betrayus confirmed. “Forever…”

…

BAM!

“Ow!” Pac winced and clutched his shoulder.

He rubbed his sore arm before winding up to run at the door again.

“Pac, stop!” Spiral said. “That won’t work. You’re hurting yourself!”

The yellow teen didn’t listen and proceeded to run at the door again so Spiral scooped him up.

“Put me down!”

“Not until you get a grip, dude!”

“What else am I supposed to do!?” Pac shouted. “Sit here and do nothing!?”

Cyli and Spiral looked to each other with solemn expressions.

“... That’s all any of us CAN do, Pac.” Cyli told him.

Pac’s eyes widened before falling to the floor. He stared at it for a moment before going limp in his best friend’s arms.

“I’m sorry guys…” he mumbled. “I’m so so sorry…”

“Pac…”

“I’m sorry…”

“Stop it, Pac…”

“I’m-”

“PAC!”

“But I AM!” He shouted. “And I SHOULD BE! Neither of you would be here if it weren’t for me!”

“Exactly!” Cyli said. “If it weren’t for you, I would have been eaten by a cyclops ghost!”

“And now what? Is dying in a cell in the Nether World really better?”

“Yes…” Cyli told him. “Because I stayed around just long enough to get to know you and Spiral…”

The boys looked at her in shock before slowly melting into soft smiles. Spiral placed Pac back on the ground and wrapped his arms around the two of them. The group of friends slumped against a wall together. At the very least, they were all together.

…

“I don’t think I can go through with this.” Clyde whimpered as they flew down a tunnel wearing executioner masks and holding laser guns.

“We tried to help them and… now we’re supposed to destroy them?” Inky questioned with a sad frown.

“It’s not like Betrayus is givin’ us a choice.” Blinky said. “It’s them or us.”

Pinky sighed.

“My problem is I think the yellow one has a crush on me…” She stated.

Blinky’s brain short circuited for a second.

“WHAT?”

“I think he’s fallen for me.”

“You’re delusional.”

“Sure, but what does that have to do with anything?”

The ghosts continued towards the cell, only to see the three of them huddled in the corner together, and a lot smaller than they should be.

“What happened to you?” Clyde asked.

“Like you care.” Pac snarled.

“We do!” Pinky insisted. “But, what can we do?! Betrayus-”

“Pinky!” Blinky whispered.

He gestured towards a nearby wall and they turned to see a slug cam recording the scene as it played out.

“... Betrayus taught us everything we know…” Pinky said. “He is the best!... heh heh.”

The ghostly ruler himself was watching from his throne room with an evil grin.

“Oh! This is my favorite show!” He stated as he continued to eat fried slugs like popcorn.

Blinky took out the black scroll Betrayus had given him and began reading.

“It is decreed that all non ghostly beings found within the Nether Realm, shall be executed forthwith and fifthwith, signed, Sir Betrayus, king of all things extremely hot and humid.” He read as the Pac Worlders walked to the edge of their cage with looks that could kill.

“It’s not enough that you stabbed us in the back, now you’ve come to finish us off?” Pac spat.

“Meh, it’s a package deal.” Blinky explained. “Just part of the service. So, here we go.”

The ghosts proceeded to draw their weapons and point them all directly into the middle of Pac’s face. 

“Ready.” Blinky said. “Aim.”

The ghosts were miserable, Cyli and Spiral were terrified, Betrayus was delighted, and Pac stood firm in the face of his demise, despite his trembling body. Pinky met Pac’s angry eyes as her gun remained pointed at his face. Her eyes narrowed… and she fired… but not before flicking a switch on her weapon. The beam fired backwards and hit the slug cam spot on, knocking it out.

“Ah, what gives!?” Betrayus whined as his screen went blank. “I paid my cable bill!”

“Pinky! Focus!” Blinky ordered.

“Before we do this, I have to know.” Pinky told him, floating over to Pac. “Lemon Ball… do you like us?”

Pac’s glare vanished.

“Huh?”

“When we first met, you asked us our names and helped us get out unnoticed. Then, when you needed our help again you could have just threatened to eat us all the time and put us on leashes, but you didn’t. In fact, you could have left when you figured out we didn’t know what we were doing in the first place! But you didn’t! So, do you like us? Yes or no?”

Inky, Blinky and Clyde watched Pac in a sort of reserved hope as he stared up at them.

“... I treated you like that cuz I didn’t know you and I wanted a fresh start from when we first met.” He admitted. “I was giving you the benefit of a doubt. I didn’t wanna judge you just on the fact that your ghosts… but I guess that was a mistake.”

They flinched back as his frown returned.

“So the answer is no.” He continued. “I’m not so keen on people who are about to kill me and my friends.”

The four of them looked around at each other before sighing.

“... Ok. Just wanted to know…” Pinky said, floating back to her position.

Blinky put a hand on her shoulder but removed it as another slug cam came up. And another… and another…

“Alright.” He said, pointing his weapon again.

The rest of the ghosts pointed their weapons too, looking even more miserable then they had previously.

“Ooh! It’s back!” Betrayus cheered. “We didn’t miss it!”

Cyli and Spiral walked up to Pac and each held one of his hands. He squeezed them as they all stared forwards to their doom.

“Ready.” Blinky said again. “Aim.”

Him and his friends all shared a look… and nodded. Just as they were about to fire, they all flicked the switches on their guns and fired their beams backwards, hitting their targets with a satisfying fizzle as all four slug cams dropped to the floor.

Betrayus roared and threw his remote at the tv.

“That’s it! I’m switching to satellite!” The ghost announced.

“Tonight’s entertainment is canceled.” Pinky grinned as she opened the cage.

The three teens starred in surprise before breaking into huge grins. Pac let out a breathy, relieved, laugh. He took a few steps forwards as if he were about to catch Clyed in a very willing hug when his body shrunk again. He and his friends made disoriented sounds as the shrinking occurred.

“If we don’t get to the tree of life and powerup, WE’RE gonna be canceled!” Pac exclaimed.

“We’ve gotcha covered.” Blinky told them. “Clyde!”

The orange ghost reached into his mouth and pulled out a long black box.

“This is what you have to do….”

…

“Oh, Fluffyyyyyyyy~!” Cyli called.

The poodle stood up from his nap as the tiny Pac Worlders reached into the box to pull out a long white bone.

“We have a bone to pick with you!” Spiral prompted.

The dog immediately started wagging his tail and lunged for the bone, throwing them into a tug of war match. As his friends continued to distract Fluffy, Pac began sneaking around them. He headed straight for the tree and tried to jump to a vine… but he missed. He fell to the floor with a thump as Fluffy changed to his demon form, clearly not enjoying the game. Pac used his friend’s struggle as determination and made another leap, this time grabbing onto the vine firmly. And good thing too cuz his body shrunk again moments after. He gasped and turned to his friends. Low and behold, they shrunk too and were hoisted into the air by Fluffy.

“GAH!”

“Hold on guys!” Pac called to them.

Then he began climbing. He never did spectacularly in gym class and it was safe to say that he lacked Spiral’s superior upper body strength, but he poured every last ounce of resolve into scaling the thick vine and finally reached a berry. It took a bit of tugging to get it free before he lifted it into his mouth (it almost didn’t fit anymore which was saying something) and swallowed. Just as he did, he felt his body grow, and grow, and… whoa, way too big. Fluffy turned around as a large shadow enveloped him. He dropped the bone with Cyli and Spiral as he stared at the towering teen above him. Pac had grown roughly ten times his normal size and looked like a giant compared to him. The poodle whimpered and promptly ran away just as the growth berry’s short effects wore off.

“Greet timing, Pac!” Spiral cheered.

Pac handed the two of them a berry each to turn them to their normal sizes and popped a flight berry for himself. The three of them rose into the air with big smiles across their faces.

“Woah!”

Pac chuckled as his friends played with their new ability. Things were finally starting to go their way.

…

Betrayus grumbled as he floated down to the prison room.

“Oh, I hope I didn’t miss the execution. That would ruin an otherwise perfect evening-” He froze.

Sitting in the cage, all tied up, were Inky, Blinky, Pinky, and Clyde.

“W-WHA!?” He flew over to the bars. “What are you doing in there!?”

“Turns out those kids are even bigger kinivers than we are.” Blinky shrugged.

“Where are they!?” Betrayus demanded.

The four ghosts looked to the side.

“NOOOOOOOOOO!”

…

The ghost stood in the empty room he had placed the tree of life in, glaring at Fluffy who was playing with a bone on the floor.

“You were supposed to guard the tree, you mangy mutt!” Betrayus shouted. “Give me that bone! Drop it!”

He wrenched it free from his jaws and threw it but angered the dog in doing so. He lunged at him as a shriek echoed through the halls.

“Drop me! Drop ME!” He pleaded.

…

Meanwhile, Pac, Cyli, and Spiral were peacefully flying away with the tree of life in hand. Until they looked behind them to see pretty much every ghost in the Nether Realm rushing towards them. 

“Run!” Pac ordered.

The three of them did so as the ghosts started gaining on them. They seemed to keep a good enough distance… for a while at least. Cyli and Spiral practically shrieked as Pac was almost tackled by a dragon.

“Keep going!” Pac shouted back at them. “I got this!”

They did as they were told but still kept an eye on him as he maneuvered around the beast. Pac seemed to have an affinity for flying as every time the dragon bit down he swooped away with ease. But they could tell it wasn’t going anywhere. One of them would tire out eventually. Cyli grabbed a berry off the tree.

“Pacster! Heads up!” Cyli called before throwing it in his direction.

Pac jumped over the dragon's head and caught it in his mouth before running along it’s back and jumping off the other side. He turned around to face it just as he felt the effects of the berry. His body began to glow with every colour of the rainbow before forcing itself out of his mouth in a chromatic fireball. The dragon was singed and fell to the floor as Pac rejoined his friends.

“Excuse me.” He grinned.

The three of them laughed and continued onwards. The tension didn’t build again until they were flying down the tunnel towards the exit.

“Uh oh.” Cyli said.

The ghosts were swarming after them like a tidal wave. They picked up the pace. The entrance was in sight but the tension didn’t stop there. They tried to drag the tree inside but it got stuck in the door.

“Pull!” Pac said.

They grabbed onto it’s trunk and yanked it through just in time to see the ghosts coming up on them. They pushed the doors closed and-

Splat!

The ghost splashed against the door hard enough for them to hear the slime dripping down on the other side. The three teens stared at the door, floating there with wide eyes. They sighed in relief and sank to the floor.

“We did it…” Pac breathed.

“Yeah we did.” Spiral grinned.

They turned to each other and started laughing. Their relieved cackling swirled around the old room. Eventually they just sat there on the floor in silence, finally able to breath for the first time all day.

“... Hey guys?” Pac called.

“Yeah?” Cyli responded.

“I think I know why it worked this time.”

“Why?”

“Because you guys were there…”

They smiled at that and each wrapped an arm around his shoulders.

“I don’t know what’s gonna happen at this point.” Pac admitted. “The ghosts are probably gonna keep being a problem and… you don’t have to, and I know it’s probably wrong to ask but-”

“Of course we’ll help you, Pac.” Cyli finished for him.

“Like we’re letting you do this on your own.” Spiral scoffed.

Pac sighed in relief and hugged them tighter.

“Good. Cuz no way I can protect anything without my best friends.” 

…

It didn’t take long for construction to start again.

“The tree of life is safe.” President Spheros laminated as they stared up at the newly planted tree once more. “We can rest easy for now, rebuild, and start planning for the future.” He turned to the teens with a warm smile. “And it’s all thanks to you three. The heroes of our planet.” He picked up a gold metal and walked over to them. “Spiral.” He pinned a metal on his shirt. “Cylindria.” He pinned one on her shirt too before doing the same for Pac.

“And Pacster!” Spiral cheered as his buddy shook hands with the president.

“You’ll always be Pacster to your friends.” Spheros smiled. “But now that you’re the savior of Pac World, I think I’ll call you… Pac Man.”

…

“Today you have dealt a devastating blow to Betrayus’s forces. But the ghost wars are far from over.”

Pac remembered these words as he and his friends made their way to school. Pac sighed and stretched his hands over his head with a smile.

“I usually don’t get so happy about school but after THAT ordeal? I’m just glad to face something normal.” Pac said.

“True dat.” Spiral grinned. “Nothing like seven hours of boring classes and sports practices to cleanse the soul from a ghost attack.”

“I don’t even wanna HEAR the word “ghost” all day.” Pac agreed.

“Thaaaat might be a problem…” Cyli interrupted.

The boys turned to her.

“Why?” Spiral asked. “Is there another invasion!?” He whipped out his cannon.

“No, no, nothing like that.” Cyli told them. “It’s just… remember how Betrayus broadcasted us locked up in a cage across the world?”

“Yeah?” The boys responded.

“Meaning that pretty much EVERYONE in Pac World saw it?”

“Yeah?”

“Well… that means-”

“CYLI!”

The girl didn’t get to finish as she was practically thrown off her feet by Sherry tackling her in a hug.

“Ack! Oh!... Hi Sherry.” Cyli said with a slight smile.

“WHERE WERE YOU LASHT NIGHT!? Why didn’t you come back to our dorm? I wash worried shick!” The pink girl cried.

Cyli winced. By the time they’d gotten back from the Nether World it had already been late and they were exhausted. They’d fallen asleep in the President’s office without even thinking. It hadn’t occurred to Cyli how much she would worry her roommate. She proceeded to explain this to the girl.

“Well necsht time you TELL me when you’re planning on running off to the Netherworld.” Sherry insisted, cupping her face. “Ashuming there’sh gonna BE a necsht time?”

Cyli side eyed her friends and thought back to her promise to Pac.

“Yeah… there is.” She admitted.

Sherry didn’t look TOO thrilled at that response but nodded.

“Well you shtay shafe, okay?”

“I will. I promise.” Cyli said, taking her hands.

Sherry nodded too.

“And YOU!” The girl with pink gloves pointed directly at Pac.

The yellow teen froze like he was being held at gunpoint.

“Me?” He echoed.

“Yesh you!” Sherry confirmed. “Shinsh when are you the shavior of Pac World?!”

“Uh…”

… 

Needless to say, it didn’t stop there. Throughout the day, all three of them were bombarded with questions.

“What happened!?”

“It’s kinda a long story…”

“Can you really eat ghosts!?”

“Yeah…”

“How do they taste?”

“Uh… bad…”

Pac couldn’t handle this much attention. He wasn’t used to it. So he did something he never thought he’d do… he skipped lunch. Well… not really. He was still gonna get something to eat. What he really did was skip going to the lunch room and instead wandered away from school… which was sorta a bad idea since his classmates weren’t the only ones who saw the broadcast. Everywhere he went, he got stares and questions and-

“Pac…” a familiar voice called, softly.

The boy spun around to see… 

“Aunt Spheria…” he breathed.

There the woman stood with a soft expression, looking down at him. He stood there staring for only a moment before running into her arms. He felt a wave of relief wash over him in her warm embrace and sighed.

“So… savior of Pac World, huh?” She asked.

Pac chuckled.

“...You knew, right?” He said. “You always knew…”

“...I did.” She admitted.

“Then why didn’t you tell me?”

She sighed.

“When my sister disappeared with your father, I didn’t know what to do.” She told him. “I never thought I’d have any of my own kids and now here I was, in charge of raising my nephew. Early on, I decided I wanted you to have as much of a normal life as you could. I didn’t want to make you feel like you were only good for what you might do in the future.”

“But I AM only good for that…” He mumbled. “I was no one before I became this…”

“That’s not true.” Spheria insisted, cupping his round cheeks and making him look at her. “You’ve always been my boy. My kind, smart, funny, amazing boy. And now you’re gonna be even more than that.” She rubbed her thumb across his face. “Just don’t forget where you came from, ya hear?”

Pac smiled.

“I‘ll never forget you, Aunt Spheria.”

She smiled back.

“Now let’s get somethin’ to eat!” She said.

“Woo!” Pac cheered.

The two of them wandered off to clear out the nearest fast food restaurant with their arms across each other's shoulders… at least until the ghost gang showed up. Spheria was suspicious when he suddenly left for the bathroom but he managed to get out to talk to them unnoticed.

“Did you get the tree back?” Clyde asked.

“Yeah, we’re all good here.” Pac told them. “What about you guys?”

“Betrayus thinks it was all just an accident.” Blinky explained. “He’s mad but he can’t really single us out cuz everyone failed to get the tree back.”

“Not to mention it’s hard to vaporize people in a body cast.” Inky muttered with a grin.

“Huh?” Pac said with a weird look.

“Never mind.” Pinky giggled.

“O… Kay?” Pac said. “Well, I guess you guys will be wanting your bodies back now. It probably can’t happen too soon cuz we’ve gotta rebuild and stuff but I can talk to the president and schedule a date for-”

“A-actually…” Blinky interrupted.

“We thought it over and we decided we’re gonna stay ghosts for a while.” Pinky informed him.

Pac was taken aback.

“... Really?”

“I mean, come on! It was kinda fun tricking all those ghosts like that!” Inky grinned.

“Not to mention BETRAYUS.” Blinky agreed.

“And look how happy all the people are now that they have their tree back.” Clyde smiled.

“So we’re gonna stay ghosts so we can help you beat them.” Pinky said.    

“Be your eyes on the inside.” Inky added.

“Like double agents.” Blinky nodded.

Pac was speechless.

“... You’re gonna stay ghosts… in a place you hate… to help me?” He asked.

“You could say we’ve taken a liking to you as well, Pac.” Clyde told him.

The boy’s eyes softened and a grin spread across his face. He opened his arms.

“Bring it in.” He told them.

They were about to do so before remembering a small detail.

“Uh… slime, buddy.” Blinky told him.

“I could not care less.” Pac told them.

They grinned and moved in for a group hug with a sickening splat. They all groaned and giggled as Pac was covered in multi-colored slime. Needless to say, he laughed the loudest.

“Welp, gotta run!” Inky said.

“Where to?” Pac questioned, shaking the orange and blue slime off his hands.

“Sorry, pal. No time.” Blinky said, already floating away.

“We have an important letter to deliver.” Clyde told him.

“But we’ll see you soon, Pacums.” Pinky said.

Pac quirked an eyebrow and mouthed “Pacums?”. But by that point they’d already flown away. He wiped a bit of pink slime off his face and looked down at it. He thought for a moment and then gave it a lick.

“Huh… not bad.” He smiled.

…

The ghosts flew back to the Nether Realm just in time to pick up the letter and hand it over to Butler. They followed him to Betrayus who was lying, covered in bandages, on a red velvet bed. Butler held up the letter so he could read it.

“Hope you’re feeling better fast.” The Lord read. “Sorry I bit you on the… Oh! Look. He signed it with his paw print!” He said as he noticed Fluffy's signature at the bottom. “That’s… so sweet!”

Chapter Text

“Where are you taking us, Mr President?” Pac asked as they drove down the road in a limo.

“To a top secret laboratory to meet possibly the most brilliant mind in the history of Pac World.” Spheros told them. “He’s the genius that invented those weapons you’ve been using to capture invading ghosts.”

“These PSC’s totally rock!” Spiral said, holding his cannon.

“PSC?” 

“Short for Plasma Sucking Cannon.” Cyli explained. “As opposed to FSP, short for…” She pointed to Pac who was scarfing down practically all the limo’s snacks.

“Food Sucking Pac-Man.” Spiral finished.

Pac licked his lips with a grin before jolting up in realization.

“Uh… no one wanted anything…” Pac said, eyeing the empty snack tray. “... Right?”

The president and his friends all fondly shook their heads as he sheepishly sucked on his grape juice.

“Yes, well, I’ve brought this brilliant scientist out of retirement to invent more weapons.” The President explained.

Pac’s eyes shot open in excitement and he squeezed his juice so hard it sprayed.

“SWEET! You must mean Sir Cumfrence!” Pac said.

His excitement dulled for a moment as he realized he sprayed his juice all over President Spheros.

“Uh… sorry Mr. President.” He apologized before shaking back into geek mode. “I’ve read all about Sir Conference. His inventions helped win Pac World War One against Commander Betrayus!”

“Wow.” Spiral said. “That must make the guy a legend. At least-”

WOOP WOOP WOOP WOOP

“Oh my!” The president cried. “That’s the new ghost attack detection sensor!”

“The ghosts must have blown open a new portal.” Cyli inferred.

“Wonder who they're attacking?” Pac said.

Just then, a giant glob of green slime rammed against the vehicle. Pac opened his mouth and allowed a dollop of goo to fall into his mouth. He smiled and rubbed his stomach. What he had hoped would happen had indeed happened and he now enjoyed the taste of slime… at least usually. It was hard to tell sometimes since their taste varied. Some ghosts were really funky.

“Aw, yuck!” Spiral cringed as he and Cyli leaned away at the display.

Pac gave a sheepish smile before the car shook.

“Looks like it’s all about us.” Pac said as ghosts continued to pelt the limo with slime balls.

The hover car was thrown off the road as police officers attempted to get rid of as many ghosts as possible. Unfortunately they were both possessed by cyclops ghosts and started shooting slime balls at the car as well.

“System must have been slimed! I can’t stop!” The guard behind the wheel called as they hurdled towards a wall.

“Don’t worry.” Pac said, unbuckling himself and opening his door. “You deserve a “break” today.”

The yellow teen proceeded to jump out slam his feet against the road. He stumbled and had to run with it for a moment before pushing against it so hard that sparks came off the heels of his sneakers. He heaved as hard as he could and managed to stop the limo just before it crashed.

“AH!” He yelped as smoke rose up from the soles of his feet.

He grabbed his foot and blew on it before waving around the other. They were still hot but at least his shoes were no longer in danger of melting from heat. He climbed back in just as his friends pulled out their PSC’s. He pulled out a yellow contraption that held his berries and emptied them onto his hand. 

“Better leave a few berries.” He said. “In case you guys wanna power up too!” He turned to the glowing orbs in his hand. “But not this one, it’s too delicious. And that’s the coolest cuz it gives me ice powers. And that’s ones-”

“Ahem.” Spheros interrupted. “Any time now?”

“Oh.” He poured all but three back into his dispenser and handed the extra two to his friends. “Here you go.”

He popped his own into his mouth and flew out through the sunroof.

“Time for a Pac Attack!” The teen called.

He had decided that yelling things like that alerted people to his arrival. At first it had made him feel awkward as he was still getting used to positive attention but he kinda liked how people would cheer when he said things like that. 

Back in the limo, Cyli and Spiral eyed their berries unsurely.

“I thought you'd be excited to try all the berries.” The president said.

“Trouble is, we’re not sure how each one’s gonna affect us.” Spiral told him.

“Like the other day.” Cyli said, pointing her PSC out the window and firing. “When I tried that pretty pink one?-Gotcha!- You know, it made me lighter than air. I was stuck on the ceiling for like an hour.”

“Yeah, Pac seems to be having a lot more luck with them then we are.” Spiral agreed. “I tried the frost berry that’s supposed to turn him into Ice Pac and all it did was make me burp ice.”

“Hmm, I see…” the president hummed.

“Now that you mention it…” Cyli said. “Are we the first not-yellow Pac Worlders to use them?”

“Not necessarily.” Spheros told her. “Some of our soldiers ate them during the war to gain an upper hand on Betrayus’s forces but they were only permitted a specific kind that simply enhanced their natural abilities. Zac and Sunny never indulged in them either to be honest.”

“So that’s why you have no clue what they do.” Spiral said, shooting a beam out the window.

Meanwhile, Pac was successfully gobbling ghost after ghost. He’d downed about five before sticking his tongue out.

“Ugh… those ghouls were seriously sour.” Pac gagged.

Like he said, not all of them tasted good. He popped another berry and felt a shiver across his body.

“Delis- AH!” He cried as he plummeted to the floor.

Guess that berry canceled out his flight. They didn’t usually do that. He screamed as the ground got closer and closer. But he didn’t realize that it wasn’t gonna hurt him until he was literally BOUNCING off of it. That was when he realized the berry had turned him into just a head. A RUBBER head.

“That’s a new one!” He said as he flew through the air. “And I thought my high tops had springs!”

He fell back into the sun roof and bounced around his baffled friends for a moment, trying to gain his bearings. Spiral duct as he flew out the window and sucked down three more ghosts.

“Follow the bouncing ball!” He called as he bounced off another building.

He got a little dizzy from it though.

“Better pay more attention to which berry turns me into Rubber Pac.” He said to himself. “Then again! Half the fun is not always knowing which power I’m gonna get next!”

He flew past a ghost that dodged but bounced off another roof and got him in the end.

“Last one!” Pac said before gulping him down.

Just then, the berry wore off…. and he was still flying through the air. He panicked and flailed as he slammed back first into a wall. He slid to the floor and fell on his head with his feet hanging in the air.

“Or when the power’s gonna wear off…” He groaned.

His body, though still a pile on the floor, seized up as the eyeballs wrenched their way out of his stomach through his mouth. He was getting used to the taste but that part was still upsetting. He’d always found the concept of throwing up disturbing since it was so foreign to him so it sucked that he had to do it every day now. He guessed it helped to call it a “belch” instead, but they all knew what it really was. Burping was just gas. Eyeballs weren’t gas.

“You okay down there, hero?” A voice asked.

Pac looked up (or rather down) to see a certain braces wearing girl smiling down at him. Sherry had never really been someone he called a friend before the whole ghost business but now, like Cyli, he was proud to do so.

“Sherry…” He chuckled. “Don’t call me that.” He told her with a shy smile as she helped him to his feet.

“Why not?” Spiral asked as he and Cyli came up to him as well.

“That’s what you are, isn’t it?” Cyli asked.

“I mean…” Pac rubbed the back of his head. “... I guess?”

“You guess(h)?” His friends questioned.

“Look, if strangers and the Prez wanna call me Pac Man and address me like a hero… I guess that’s fine. But not my friends.” He said.

They gave him warm but slightly concerned smiles. The limo opened up again, signaling them to enter.

“Oh, shoot.” Cyli muttered. “Sorry, Sherry. We kinda had somewhere to be.”

“That’sh okay.” The girl grinned. “Shee you guys at shchool?”

“You know it!” Spiral said, giving her a high-five.

They loaded back into the car and continued on their journey.

…

“The secret laboratory is built underneath the capital of Pac World.” Spheros explained as he led them down a dimly lit tunnel.

“Wow. How cool is that?” Pac asked, getting giddier with every step.

Being a ghost nerd also meant he read all about Sir Cumfrence. He kind of idolized him and this was starting to feel like a dream come true. But his smile vanished when there was a muffled boom from the other side of the door and smoke began to rise from it. Spheros was thrown back from the force of the explosion and fell to the floor.

“That can’t be good.” Pac said as the President’s guards tackled him in an effort to avoid any further damage from the blast. “Come on! We have to find Sir Cumfrence!” Pac yelled before leading his friends inside.

It was impossible to see inside the lab.

“Sir Cumfrence!” Spiral called.

“Where are you!?” Pac asked.

“Are you alright!?” Cyli added. “Ugh, there’s too much smoke to see anything!”

“I’ve got an idea!” Pac said.

Only moments later, his friends heard an intense sucking sound and the smoke began to clear as Pac sucked it into his stomach. His plan proved successful but his skin turned pale and he fell to the floor in a coughing fit right afterwards. His friends looked at him in concern at his shaking form and Spiral kneeled down next to him in case he passed out.

“This is precisely why no one should ever ever smoke!” A voice cut through the commotion.

From above, a green figure with a large nose descended on a lowering platform. The man was average height with stark white spiky hair and a bald spot on the top of his head. He wore black rubber gloves and boots and actually dressed as more of an engineer then as a scientist. Pac managed to get to his feet, colour returning, as the man stepped forwards… and then started stumbling as if he had been hit by a dizzy spell.

“Sir Cumfrence?” Pac questioned, moving forward to catch the old man if need be. “Are you alright?”

The man immediately straightened up and glared at the teen.

“Why wouldn’t I be?” He said. “Are you suggesting that I’m old?!”

Pac’s eyes widened and he took a step back.

“No!” He answered. “I-I-I-I-I meant…”

The scientist broke into a huge smile and started laughing.

“Ho ho, oh, I’m just messing with ya, kid.” He told him. “I’m not only old, I’M DOWN RIGHT ANCIENT.” He said striking a pose. “But there’s still plenty of-” he did a backflip. “Pep in me step!”

He seemed to land alright at first but proceeded to stumble back and crash into a pile of tools. In response, an odd robot on four wheels extended an arm and picked up the scientist by the scruff of his coat. The three teens blinked in confusion at the sight of what were basically a few oil cans stacked on top of eachother built into a robot.

“My lab assistant, Grinder.” Sir Cumfrence introduced. “Less personality than a doorknob- BUT it gets lonely down here so… bad company's better than no company.”

Grinder beeped a few times before looking the other way and crossing his arms. Sir Cumfrence proceeded to grab an oil can just as the president walked in.

“I’ll teach ya to dis me!” He raved before firing it at the robot.

Needless to say, Grinder dodged and the president didn’t.

“Oops… Sorry Stratos my boy!” Sir Cumfrence called.

Spheros stood up with a sigh and walked over to the other green man.

“Was Betrayus behind the explosion?” He asked, wiping the oil off his face. “Has the location of the lab been compromised?”

“Oh, don’t be a turtle dove with no one to poop on.” The scientist shrugged him off, walking over to a steaming pot. “I was just makin’ some chilli! Got a little hot to handle, is all…”

Pac only needed to get a short whiff of the red hot dish and he was drooling over it. He had to lick his lips to stop it from getting all over his friend’s shoes.

“I’m Cylindria.” Cyli introduced. “And this is Spiral, and this is-”

“The Pac Man!” Sir Cumfrence finished for her.

The teens, mainly Pac, all seemed surprised at that.

“Ooh! Spittin’ image of your pop at your age!” The scientist gushed.

“You knew my dad!?” Pac asked.

“You bet your yellow Pac-side I did. He and your mom loved my chilli. Care to try some?”

“Thanks!” Pac beamed.

He tried to only take a bite but… after the first taste the whole thing was good as gone. He wolfed it down in four seconds flat and came out of it looking like his head was gonna explode. He opened his mouth and fire practically came out of it out of sheer spice.

“Dude! Best chilli ever!” The boy cheered. “Got any more?”

“Yes, well,” The president cleared his throat. “Sir Cumfrence, old friend, we’re here to see how the new weapons are coming.”

“We totally love your plasma sucking canons.” Cyli told him as she and Spiral brought them out.

“Major awesomeness.” Spiral agreed.

The scientist grinned.

“Heh. Well if you like those old things, wait till you try the new and improved version.”

He bounced over to a nearby table and struggled to lift a black cannon that was bigger than his entire body. Inevitably, he lost balance and control of the cannon and the beam started firing all around the room.

“Hit the deck!” Pac yelled.

“Take cover!” Spiral agreed.

“Protect the President!” They all yelled as the guards tackled Spheros to the floor.

But even with two full grown men on top of him, the beam managed to reach him and trap him in an anti ectoplasm field. The guards grabbed onto the bubble and tried to pull it back.

Pac watched this with wide eyes before taking action. The boy vaulted himself over the cannon and steadied it as he pressed the off button. The President fell to the ground with the guards on top of him.

“Heheheh, well… you get the idea.” Sir Cumfrence chuckled.

…

Back in the Nether Realm, the remains of Betrayus’s latest ghost attack drifted by into the regeneration chamber to grow new ectoplasm.

“Why isn’t the Nether World’s leading mad scientist here yet!?” Betrayus demanded as the eyeballs floated by. “What kind of useless Butler are you!? You were supposed to serve Doctor Buttocks up to me hours ago!” He raved to the small purple ghost that stared up at him carrying a silver platter.

“I am not my twin brother’s keeper.” Butler informed his hot headed boss.

“That’s because I am a genius and you are a lowly servant.” A smug voice appeared.

Into the room floated a pale blue ghost with glasses and a claw hand, Butler’s supposed twin. This was easy to see as, despite his unkempt hair and thinner form, he had very similar features to the other ghost (mainly his head and mustache). 

Butler growled under his breath.

“Serve this you four eyed ego maniac!” The purple ghost ordered before throwing the platter at him.

Dr. Buttocks narrowly dodged before glaring at his brother.

“IQ of a nut!” The blue ghost jabbed.

“Flatulence breath!”

“You’re two socks short of a pair!”

“You’ve always been the biggest hinnie head!”

“Nuh uh, you are!”

Betrayus had had enough after the first two seconds of this. He grabbed a floating pair of peepers out of the air with a comical “MY EYES!” From the grabbed ghost. He then proceeded to throw them at the brothers, hitting them both right on the noggin. Dr. B even lost his glasses from the sheer force of being hit.

“I’ve had it!” Betrayus said (told ya). “And not just with you twin twits! There must be SOMETHING we can do about that miserable ghost gorging yellow monster!”

The scientist giggled menacingly just as he found his glasses and put them back on.

“You have hit the proverbial nail on the head.” He grinned.

“That’s not all I’m gonna hit on the head if you don’t hurry up and explain!”

Dr. Buttocks raised his prosthetic arm and snapped. As a result, a black skinned monster with two front legs and a long tail, as well as a huge jaw filled with teeth, dragged itself through the door.

“The Pac Man may be able to eat the ghosts, but not even the last of the yellow ones can possibly ingest my mutant monsters.” The ghost explained as the creature sauntered up behind him.

Butler hid behind Betrayus who looked terribly unimpressed.

“Ugh.” He scoffed. “Newsflash. Monsters haven't done so hot against him so far.”

That was true. There simply weren’t enough of them. 

“Oh ho ho ho.” The scientist chuckled. “That was before I, Dr. A. H. Buttocks, the greatest scientist to ever exist, invented the mutant, monster multiplier.”

He unsheathed what looked to be a typical netherworld blaster with a second nozzle on top and multiple glowing red tubes sticking out of it. Betrayus didn’t seem convinced yet but Buttocks was full of confidence as he aimed to tool at the monster.

“Observe unsurpassed genius at work!”

With a pull of the trigger, red beams of light encased the beast’s form. Everyone watched as there was a flash of light and now stood two identical monsters side by side.

Betrayus finally cracked a shocked grin before smirking.

“Okay… I’m impressed.”

And he was… at least until the monster(s) looked at eachother… and ran away in fear. They scampered down the halls whimpering as they went. Betrayus looked less impressed but Buttocks brushed it off.

“So I chose a wimpy monster to experiment on. Who knew?”

Then he spun around and fired it at one of the gargoyle guards. Sitting there now were two identical gargoyles who breathed fire at the doctor in unison.

The ghost gang watched from hiding in horror.

“Poor Pac Man.” Pinky said out loud.

Inky and Blinky covered her mouth so she couldn’t make any more noise and ducked down again as Betrayus snatched the ray gun out of Dr. B’s hands.

“W… what are you doing with my invention?” The scientist fretted.

“Mine.” Was the answer the fire ghost gave before cackling. “I’m going to create an entire mutant monster army to invade Pac World!”

Dr. Buttocks deflated like a kicked puppy.

“I was going to say that…” The mad scientist whined.

Just then, Betrayus accidentally pulled the trigger… and shot himself with the beam. The buttocks twins watched in a sort of silent horror at what came next.

“My mutant monsters will wipe the floor with that Pac Pest, once and for all!” The twin Betrayuses said.

They then turned to look at each other in shock. Butler sighed in defeat.

“As if one Betrayus wasn’t obnoxious enough.”

…

“Hey, Pac! Great job out there!” A student with purple skin and hair called.

“Thanks.” Pac said back with a wave.

He and Spiral continued down the hall but the taller one gave Pac a sly look.

“Heeeeeerooooooo~” He said, leaning over to him.

Pac shoved his face away with a reserved look.

“Cut it out, Spiral.” He said.

“You cut it out!” The red teen insisted. “It’s true, dude! You can’t keep pretending that isn’t what you are!”

Pac scratched the back of his head and stared at the ground.

“I-It’s not that I don’t think what I do is important.” He explained. “I just… don’t think I need to be treated differently for it…”

“Sure you do!” Spiral said, throwing an arm around his shoulders. “You think anyone’s still gonna pick on you now that you save them on the daily?”

“Outta my way, ghost eating freak!” A voice intercepted.

Pac flinched and stood to the side as Skeebo pushed past him.

“... Anyone except THAT piece of work?” Spiral corrected.

Pac sighed. Yeah, becoming a hero had not stopped Skeebo from picking on him. If anything, it just amplified his distaste for him and inspired a lot of new nicknames related to his paranormal diet. Let’s just say they didn’t help with his self confidence much.

“Forget about it.” Pac said. “Let’s just go to bed. I’m exhausted…”

Spiral yawned.

“Yeah, me too… but we’re gonna continue this later, pal.”

Pac nodded and the two of them carried on.

…

Later that night, the ghost gang floated up to Pac and Spiral’s dorm window and looked in.

“Looks like they’re sleeping.” Blinky stated.

“So rap on the glass, brainiac.” Inky told him.

Blinky attempted to do just that but his hand went right through the window.

“Some days being a ghost can be such a drag.” Blinky sighed.

“Depends on how you look at life.” Clyde said. “Glass half full or half empty.”

Inky just phased through the window and looked back at them.

“What glass? I don’t see no stinkin’ glass.” The blue ghost said

Pinky gazed at Pac’s sleeping form dreamily. She had yet to admit to herself (or anyone else for that matter) that she’d completely fallen for the yellow teen. She didn’t know what it was about him. His dumb jokes, dorky smile, portly body. Usually she didn’t find these traits endearing but she couldn’t get enough of them from this lovable doofus. Even the sight of his messy pajama clad form was nothing short of adorable. She made a move to go inside but Clyde stopped her.

“Pinky, go to the girl’s dorm and wake up Cyli.” He told her.

The ghost’s smile vanished.

“Who needs her?” She muttered, turning away.

“Pac is about to need every friend he has.” Clyde told her. “And about a thousand more…”

Her expression softened and she flew away.

“Spiral, get on the ball!” Blinky said, getting in the red teen’s face. 

“Yo! Packy!” Inky said, doing the same to Pac.

His mission was successful in waking the chubby teen. But what he didn’t account for was the fact that his silhouette was very… ghost like. Meaning that Pac’s first instinct when he saw it… was to eat.

“What!?” Pac jolted awake.

He then proceeded to dive at Inky teeth first and bite off a good chunk of his lower ectoplasm. Inky flinched away in shock as did Pac when he realized what he’d done.

“Shoot! Sorry, Inky!” The yellow one fretted.

The ghost sighed.

“Hey. Least you didn’t eat my eyeball half.” Inky said, trying to ease the kid’s nerves. “... Shmo.” He muttered at the end.

He wiggled his rear end a bit to replenish the lost slime and rejoined his friends. They’d finally managed to coax Spiral awake but it was not a pretty sight by any means. While Pac was simply clad in a loose t-shirt and striped sunset coloured pajama pants with just the slightest bed head, Spiral looked like a hot mess. The teen was wearing a pair of basketball shorts and a white shirt that was either a crop top or far too small for him as it stopped just below his ribs. He was wearing socks with slippers, his sleeping mask was askew on his head, and his untamed curls were certainly something. He was also currently half asleep and that definetly didn’t help.

“You guys better get your butts in gear!” Blinky told them.

“The demented Dr. Buttocks is cloning a mutant monster army to invade Pac World!” Clyde told them with his hands on his head.

“‘Cuz he knows you can’t eat monsters! Losers…” Inky added.

“Our PSC’s are useless against them too.” Spiral said, finally shaking awake and checking the weapon.

“Pac!” Cyli called as she and Pinky entered the room. 

She looked a little worse for ware as well. Her black hair was down and flowing messily down her back. She was wearing a black romper with spaghetti straps and a bright pink cardigan overtop that was slipping off one of her shoulders. Her glasses were crooked on her face like they’d been unceremoniously shoved on but she still somehow looked full business.

“Contact Sir Cumfrence. He better have some anti monster weapons or we’re-”

“Excuse me!” Pinky cut in. “Since when are you giving orders, missy?”

Cyli just pointed to Pac with a smug look as he dialed the number on his wrist communicator.

“Great idea, Cyli.”  Pac grinned at her with a thumbs up.

Pinky grumbled and crossed her arms.

Once the call patched Pac into the lab, he heard snoring for just a moment before the screen shook and he heard a frantic: “Surrender or- CRASH! ”

“Sir Cumfrence?” The teen questioned.

“Pac Man?” The scientist’s voice called. The screen then turned to show the frazzled man. “Oh, there you are. I forgot I invented these confounded things.”

“We need weapons to combat a mutant monster invasion.” Pac explained. “Fast.”

Sir C frowned in thought.

“Sorry, I don’t have a thing in stock.” He told him. “But I’ll get right on it.”

“Thanks Sir-”

“Come on, Grinder! You bag of bolts! We’ve got work to do!” He cut him off.

Seconds later, the camera shook and all he saw was black. Pac chose to end the call there.

“Let’s hope he can come up with something.” Pac said.

…

Meanwhile (again)

Buttocks had settled himself in the maze and was cloning monster after monster. By the end of it, the hall was full of them. Betrayus watched gleefully through a slug cam.

“Good.” He cackled. “The more monsters to crush those Pac Worlders the better.”

“My sentiments exactly.” His clone snarked, lounging on his throne.

“You’re really starting to get on my nerves.” Betrayus 1 said.

“My sentiments exactly.” He repeated.

“That’s it!” He roared. “Fluffy!”

The three headed dog stood up at the call of his master and ran over to the clone.

“Oh! What a cute three headed doggy!” The clone cooed, going over to pet him.

Betrayus grinned evilly.

“Sick that imposter!” He ordered.

Fluffy turned to his demon form and Betrayus Clone screamed.

“Amazing how someone so handsome can be so cruel!” He yelped as he ran for the hills.

Buttocks continued to clone monsters and his ray gun ended up pointed at a monster that was significantly smaller than then others. It was round and furry and had too big ears but no upper legs. It looked up at Buttocks with a happy sorting sound, orange fur bustling with excitement.

“Stop!” Betrayus ordered through a com link in Buttock’s ear. “Send that weakling back here! Only the fittest and the fiercest get the be in THIS ghost army!”

The little monster let out a small whimper as it’s ears drooped. It looked at the ground and slowly walked away with it’s head down.

“Well what are you waiting for?” Betrayus continued. “Let the invasion begin!”

“Troops, ho!” Buttocks ordered, pointing out of the maze.

They did just that and began following him. No one noticed the tiny monster from earlier jumping onto one of the gargoyle’s backs.

… 

Pac and his friends had seen the red flashes from their window. After the information their friend’s had given them, they knew what was happening.

“Okay, so we’ve got no functional weapons and an army of monsters ready to bust down our front door.” Spiral said. “What are we gonna do?”

Pac gripped his berry dispenser firmly before shoving it in his pocket.

“Whatever we can.” He told them.

The three teens ran out of the building.

“Okay, bad news is, I can’t eat these things and you can’t blast them.” Pac said. “Good news is that, unlike ghosts, they’re solid physical creatures, meaning that if we hit ‘em hard enough we should be able to knock ‘em out.”

“Is that really your plan?” Cyli questioned as they continued down that hall. “Punch them till they pass out?”

“You got a better one?” Pac asked her.

The girl went silent for a moment.

“... Punching it is.”

They made it just outside the tennis court and were about to enter the maze.

“How long do you think we have till they get here?” Spiral asked.

Just then, the entrance of the maze was blown open and out marched the army of gargoyle creatures. And floating over them was a small blue ghost with a white mustache, glasses, and a familiarly shaped head. He cackled.

“Nothing can stop me now!” He cheered.

“Don’t you mean me?” Betrayus’s voice sounded from his earpiece.

“Eh, I meant, nothing can stop us-”

“Stop me! ME ME ME!”

“You’re both wrong!” Pac told them. “Because WE’RE gonna stop you!” The yellow teen gulped and folded in on himself a bit. “We hope…”

The monsters roared at them. As opposed to the threat of being slimed and captured, now they were threatened with real bodily harm at the hands of a monstrous beast… They stood there, barefoot in the grass, wearing their pajamas as Cyli and Spiral desperately tried to tie back their unruly hair for this fight… and it was at these times the group silently questioned why a bunch of kids were responsible for dealing with this. But that didn’t matter right now. Pac threw a berry into his mouth before turning to his friends.

“You’ve still got yours right?” He asked.

They nodded in confirmation, having both managed to fasten their long hair into messy but secure ponytails at the base of their skulls.

“So let’s send em… Packing!” He proceeded to fly into the air.

“Don’t just stand there, attack!” Dr Buttocks ordered. “Destroy them all, especially the yellow one!”

With these new instructions, half of the monsters took to the sky on their red glowing wings.

“Surround the Pac Man and close in!”

They did just that and began shooting fire at the yellow teen. He just narrowly dodged out of the way of the first one by arching his back away from it and flying off.

“I always knew I was a born leader!” The ghost cackled.

Pac heard that and made his next move, flying straight towards the scientist.

“What?” He flinched away in fear.

“In that case, I better shut you up.” Pac said.

Buttocks tried to run away but he wasn’t fast enough.

“No! WAIT!”

CHOMP!

Pac slowed down a bit as he felt the eyeballs squirming around inside him. He was a lot more stubborn than the other ghosts. Usually they moved a little but mostly gave up once he swallowed them. He took a moment to clear his stomach by belching out the bespectacled ghost’s remains before having to dodge another stream of fire. The monsters surrounded him and reeled up for another round of attacks.

“This time… we might be in over our heads…” Pac admitted.

Then the fire came. Pac succeeded in dodging them for the most part but got grazed on the hand.

“OW!” He called, clutching his hand to his chest.

“You okay, Pac!?” Spiral called from down below.

“Fine!” He called back, trying not to let his voice break. “I’ve got the Air Force! You take care of the inventory!”

“Roger that Pac Leader!” Spiral saluted.

“Let’s do it.” Cyli said, taking out her berry.

The two of them shoved the berries in their mouths in unison and gagged. The moment of discomfort was then broken as Spiral proceeded to strike a defensive stance and jump into the air. As he did so, Cyli was sure she could see his eyes glowing white like in an old Kung fu movie.

“Alright! I’m a martial arts monster kicking master!” Spiral cheered.

He landed right in the face of one monster and used the momentum to kick another, and another. Then he spun around in the air and kicked two at once in a split kick. Meanwhile, Cyli glowed pink for a moment and she felt a familiar weight to her body… or… lack of weight.

“Ooooh no. Not again.” She said.

Just then, two monsters came at her from opposite ends. She jumped into the air just in time to kick both of them in the head before spinning and ending in a pirouette.

“Hey, this could work out.” The blue girl grinned.

Another monster tried to spit fire at her but she jumped over it and it ended up hitting another one in the rear.

“Heheh, I can start a new show.” She joked. “Dancing IN the stars!”

Back with Pac. He’d wrapped his burned wrist by tying off the ruined glove for now but he was still being surrounded by three monsters.

“These guys pack a lot of fire power.” He said to himself. “So I better chill.” He popped an ice berry in his mouth and waited.

In the meantime, the gargoyles were winding up for another attack and this time he had no escape. Still no ice-form. Pac’s hands frantically patted around his body for any sign of frost. There was none. He started to panic as the fire streaked towards him… only to change at that last second. The contrast of hot and cold sent a wave of steam out from his body. And a POWERFUL one. The mist allowed him to get out of the way so that the three monsters crashed into each other and fell to the floor. They landed right in front of Cyli and Spiral as the two finished up.

Honk honk!

The two of them turned to see a certain green skinned scientist… riding a banana machine? It sorta looked like a spider actually…

“Perfect timing!” He said with a wave.

“Wow, check it out!” Pac said from the air. “Yum…” he took a moment to lick his lips and get his sudden craving for bananas under control. “Pac-nana power!”

“I’ve gotta take a reading to see what we’re up against.” Sir C said.

He pressed a button that caused the laser that sat on the body of his vehicle to put out blue waves of energy that hit the monsters, scanning them. He looked at his screen in shock.

“Most impressive…” He mumbled.

The Gargoyles proceeded to explode into harmless puffs of air, startling the teens.

“What happened to the monsters?” Cyli asked.

“Just as I thought. Mutant clones with limited energy capacity.” Sir C explained. “But still extremely dangerous.”

“Tell me this baby comes equipped with some serious monster zapping power.” Spiral begged.

The scientist shook his head.

“Nope. But it is completely eco-friendly. Think green energy, I always say.”

“But what about the anti monster weapons we need?” Cyli asked.

“Working on it…” Sir C said, sheepishly. “Whoever invented these clones is a genius. Despicably evil and psychotic, but brilliant!”

… 

Betrayus had been watching the whole thing through a slug-cam.

“Obviously not brilliant enough!” The ghost said. “That lemon freak is winning again!”

“Duh…” the clone said as he scratched Fluffy's belly. “because you are such a looooser. Handsome, but a total loser.”

Betrayus 1 burst into flames with a look that could kill struck across his face.

“I’M GONNA RIP YOUR FAKE HEAD OFF!” He roared and proceeded to tackle him.

The two of them rolled for a moment before tumbling off eachother. Betrayus turned around and tried to charge him… but the clone poofed out of existence and the evil overlord crashed right into a wall.

…

Pac grabbed the last monster by the tail and threw it as far as he could, wincing a bit when the cloth rubbed against his burn.

“That’s right! Run ya big-” Spiral called.

“Alright…” Pac breathed. “That wasn’t so bad.”

… And then his berry wore off. He started falling out of the sky.

“WOOOOAH!” He screamed, grabbing for his berry dispenser. “Empty.”

He continued to fall onto one of the bouncy horses that bent backwards before shooting him forwards again. He tumbled and rolled right up to a small orange monster with no upper arms. He groaned and looked up at it in confusion. The monster jumped up in surprise… and then turned into a scarier version of itself with sharp claws and fangs. Pac jumped back in fear and surprise only to trip over the ledge of the roof and fall backwards. His friends screamed in horror as he just barely managed to grab onto the ledge with his good arm.

“Pac!” Cyli screamed.

The teen tried to grab on with his other hand too but the pain was too much and he flinched back. His friends ran over to the building he was hanging off of in hopes of catching him if he fell.

“We’re out of berries! So Pac may be out of luck.” Spiral said, miserably.

“Hang on!” Cyli told him.

“I’ll try…” He said in pain. “I just hope that monster doesn’t…” he looked up to see the monster standing over him, shrouded in shadows. “... decide to kick me off the ledge…”

His hand started to slip. Pac closed his eyes, waiting to feel his body break against the pavement… but it never came. The monster grabbed his hand in his mouth just in time and pulled him back up. Pac collapsed onto the floor in a heap as the monster bounced over to him happily.

“Thanks…” He breathed in surprise as he pushed himself to his feet. “Wow, you’re a lot stronger than you look.”

The monster chirped happily and flexed it’s ears like arms. Pac chuckled at the display.

“Pac!”

The boy turned around as his friends burst through the door.

“You’re okay!” Cyli cheered, trapping him in a hug.

“Thanks to this guy.” Pac said, gesturing to the monster.

There was an odd whooshing sound and they all looked up just in time to see a monster flying by with a camera for an eye. It focused on the little monster for a moment before flying off.

“We did it!” Spiral cheered. “They turned tail for the Nether World!”

“Everyone except for him.” Pac said, pointing back to the monster at their feet.

Cyli kneeled down to him with a smile and scratched his chin.

“He’s sorta cute in a hairy monster kind of way.”

The little monster smiled wide and wrapped his ears around her leg as she stood up again. Pac turned just in time to see Inky, Blinky, Pinky, and Clyde coming up.

“Hi guys.” Pac greeted them. “Nice of you to drop by.”

“Would have been here sooner.” Inky said

“But had to wait for the eye in the sky to split.” Blinky finished.

“So Betrayus wouldn’t see what close friends we’re becoming.” Pinky said, floating up to Pac. “Right?”

Pac was a bit confused by the look she was giving him but thankfully Clyde cut in when he caught sight of their new furry friend.

“Why hello there Fuzzbits.” The orange ghost greeted. “Nice to see you finally made it out.”

The little monster (now known to be named Fuzzbits) bounced up and down and chittered happily. Clyde laughed before proceeding to make similar snorting and chirping noises.

“Clyde speaks monster.” Pac said, impressed.

“Actually, I speak nine languages.” He informed them. “But, I picked up Monster shooting hoops with a Sasquatch.”

“So maybe you know why the little guy saved me?” Pac asked.

“Not all monsters are, well, you know, monsters.” Clyde explained as Fuzzbits grabbed onto Cyli’s leg again. “Some are really good hearted like Fuzzbits here.”

“But they hate living in the Nether World since Betrayus took over.” Blinky added.

“So, what happens to Fuzzbits now?” Cyli asked.

“Betrayus’s spy cam caught him saving Pac.” Spiral reminded them. “So he can’t go home.”

“But won't he miss his family?” Pac questioned.

“Fuzzbits is an orphan.” Clyde stated.

Pac’s body stiffened for a moment.

“Like you.”

His shoulders sagged as he looked at the ground. His eyes met Fuzzbits’s for just a moment. The look of an innocent little kid that just didn’t know what to do stared back at him. It was painfully familiar. Pac smiled and made his choice.

“That settles it.” Pac said. “We have to take him back to the dorm to live with us!”

“Cool by me.” Spiral grinned. “Except for one little problem… aside from him being attached to Cyli…”

“No pets allowed in the dorms.” The girl in question finished.

“Then we’ll just have to hide him.” Pac said, turning to Fuzzbits. “You’ll be as quiet as a mouse, right?”

Fuzzbits jumped off Cyli’s leg with a wide smile and chirped in agreement. He then rushed over to lick Pac’s hand… his injured hand. The yellow teen pulled away with a wince. Fuzzbits pulled back as well with a look of concern that graced all his friend’s faces.

“I knew it, you got hurt didn’t you?” Spiral said with his hands on his hips.

“Maybe a little…” Pac mumbled clutching his hand to his chest.

Spiral sighed and reached towards the boy.

“Come on, let me see.”

“It’s just a little burn.” Pac said, wrenching away. “I wasn’t fast enough, that’s all.”

“Give me your hand, Pac.” Spiral ordered.

“What are you, my aunt?” Pac sassed.

An evil smile graced Spiral's features.

“You bet you’re yellow behind I am!” Spiral said, copying his aunt's southern accent.

Pac’s eyes went wide and he SNORTED at the crude impression of his parental figure’s voice.

“Oh my overlords, Spiral!” Pac said, cackling.

“Now you show me that hand so auntie Spiral can kiss it better!” Spiral said, keeping up the accent as he made grabby hands at him.

“You’ll never take me alive!” Pac yelled as he ran away from the taller teen.

Spiral chased after the chubby boy as Cyli called after them.

“Pac! Get back here, you’ll hurt yourself more!” She said through her giggling.

Fuzzbits bounded after them and after him so did the ghost gang. Eventually they started chasing each other across the entire roof until Spiral finally caught Pac around the waist and lifted him into the air, both boys cackling like hyenas. Needless to say, they did look over Pac’s burn. Turning into Ice Pac had stopped it from getting any worse so it wasn’t too bad but it would probably leave a scar. Good thing he wore gloves all the time.

“Oh! I just remembered why we’re here.” Pinky cut in. “Aside from always LOVING to see you…”

“When Dr. Butt-brain got out of the regeneration chamber, he was way mad.” Blinky told them.

“However, nothing compared to Betrayus’s rage.” Clyde told them.

…

“Oh, forget it.” Dr. Buttocks said as he and Betrayus floated through the palace. “You can’t even fathom the meaning of fury until you’ve had your eyeballs spat out.”

Betrayus turned around with a fiery glare.

“Either I win this, and every argument, or I banish you to the bog for eternity!” The fire ghost threatened.

Butler giggled cheekily as his twin stuttered.

“I-I… whatever you say my oh so supreme master lord Betrayus…” the doctor bowed.

“That’s what I figured you’d say.” The evil lord grinned. “The one thing we do agree on is that Ghoul Gobbler must be destroyed!”

“I am already working on a new plan, guaranteed to crush Pac Man like a bug.” Dr. Buttocks said, standing up.

Betrayus liked the sound of that. Their maniacal laughter echoed throughout the halls of the palace, only entailing bad things for Pac World.

Chapter Text

Pac and Spiral ran through the inky black night, keeping close to the wall of their school. They had wasted no time in taking Fuzbits to his new home… partly because night was the best time to sneak him in.

“You can sleep with me tonight.” Pac whispered to the fuzzy creature in his arms. “If you don’t like that, we can sneak you in a pet bed too. Trust me, you’re gonna love it here.”

The little monster cooed and snuggled into him. Up ahead, Spiral froze.

“Hold it!” He whisper-yelled, looking up in fear.

“Come on!” Pac said. “Cyli opens our window and we pass the furball in! What’s the big?”

“Skeebo’s big mouth.”

Spiral pointed to the glowing window with the shadow of the bully walking by. The two of them began to panic once he came up to the window.

“Take cover!” Spiral called.

Fuzbits chirped in agreement and dived into Pac’s shirt, curling into a ball at his belly. Pac wrapped his arms around him to make sure he didn’t fall out the bottom of his shirt and to hopefully mask the fact that he looked 20lbs heavier than he should. Just then, Skeebo opened his window.

“Yo! Lemonade for Brians! What’s up with your gut?” He called. “All your scarfing finally catching up with ya?!”

Pac winced. Of course. This was the guy that took every opportunity to make fun of him. Of course he would notice if he looked chubbier. Whatever, he told himself. Just play it off.

“Ha ha… Maybe.” He called back.

Skeebo laughed and snorted at the response.

“Like you weren’t fat enough already!”

And with that, the kid closed his window and walked away. Just then, Cyli opened a window to the right. Theirs.

“Ready?” She called, softly.

Pac fished Fuzbits out from under his shirt and held him up to throw.

“Here ya go! Woah-!”

Spiral tackled both of them into a nearby bush, whispering a sharp: “Incoming!”

Ms Globular was seen walking her pet dog. The two teen’s in the bush silently cursed as said dog waddled up to their hiding place and started barking. Fuzbits started snarling as well and jumped out of Pac’s arms, turning into his feral form.

“We’re toast.” Spiral said.

“Scorched.” Pac agreed.

Meanwhile, Ms Globular walked over to her barking dog.

“What’s upsetting mommy’s little Foofyfoo?” The teacher cooed.

Fuzbits continued to snarl as Pac picked him up.

“Shut his mouth.” Spiral whispered.

“I’m trying...” Pac whispered back. “To find it!”

The little guy was practically vibrating in his arms and the moment he did manage to cover his mouth… Fuzbits bit him… on his injured hand

“OW!” He yelped.

Pac threw the other hand over his mouth. That was loud. She definitely heard that.

“Whoever’s hiding in there, come out this instant.” Ms Globular demanded.

Yup.

Fuzbits backed away with a whimper and stared up at Pac with a guilty look. 

“Shhh…” He cooed, petting him gentilly. “It’s okay. Stay here with Spiral. I’ll think of something.

He proceeded to gentilly hand him to his best friend before getting on all fours and crawling out. He emerged in front of her dog, covered in leaves.

“Good evening, Ms Globular.” He greeted, brushing himself off and getting to his feet.

“Pac?” The teacher said.

She actually looked shocked.

“What are you doing out here?” She asked with a stern look. “You know students aren’t allowed outside the dorms at this hour.”

“I… Um… right…” Pac stuttered. “But… um…” he scratched his head out of nervousness before pulling away in pain. “Ow!... uh…” damn, Fuzbits wasn’t messing around. “I-I-It’s-”

“Pac…” The woman interrupted.

Pac gulped at the way she was looking at him. This was it.

“Are you hurt?”

The boy’s eyes widened in shock.

“I-I-I… w-w-well….”

Ms Globular sighed and shook her head before stepping forward.

“Show me.” She told him.

Pac flinched back.

“Huh?”

“Show me where you got hurt.” She clarified.

“You don’t need to-”

“Yes I do. You might be a hero now but you are still my student and I am still your teacher, meaning it is my job to make sure you’re safe on school grounds.”

“I’m not a hero!” He blurted. “I-I mean TECHNICALLY I am but I don’t need to be treated like-”

“All the more reason to do what I say.” Ms Globular cut him off. “Show me.”

Pac sighed and slipped off what remained of his glove. By this point, the burn that engulfed his entire hand and crawled up his wrist had begun healing but Fuzbits’s teeth had aggravated the flesh a bit and actually punctured it in some places, causing a bit of bleeding. Wow, he was definitely going to need to get a new glove after this. His teacher gasped.

“Pac! How did this happen!?” She asked, taking his injured hand in both of hers.

“W-well… it…” he sighed. “Look, the truth is…”

Spiral held his breath.

“... The school got attacked by monsters tonight…” Pac told her.

Spiral sighed and Ms Globular gave him an odd look.

“Monsters?”

“Yeah… guess the ghosts got tired of me eating them so they sent something to eat me instead… ”

She gasped in realization, eyes flickering over the teeth marks. That wasn’t entirely right but Pac wasn’t going to correct her. She still couldn’t know about Fuzbits.

“But don’t worry.” Pac told her, trying to pull away. “I took care of them. The school is safe.”

“Oh my… I’m taking you to the nurse’s office.” She told him and began pulling him towards the building.

“What!?” Pac said, trying to resist. “B-But the nurses office is closed and she’s asleep by now!”

“Yes, but the freezer is still open.” She stated. “The least we can do is grab some ice and wrap it up.”

“I’ll do that later, I just… I can’t go with you right now!” Pac insisted.

“And why not?” The teacher asked, turning to him with a stern look.

“B-because…. I…. I saw a ghost!” He bluffed.

She actually paled at that.

“You did?”

Just then, Pac saw Inky, Blinky, Pinky, and Clyde floating up from behind. Perfect timing.

“Yeah! Four of ‘em!” Pac continued. “There was a blue one, and a red one, a pink one, and a BIG orange one! So you’ve gotta get out of here before they-”

That’s when they struck. The four ghosts began circling around them. Ms Globular looked around in utter horror as she was surrounded by bright colors.

“There’s a big fat juicy one!” Blinky called.

“Dibs on the old fart’s drumstick!” Inky said.

“Let’s get the witch!” Clyde added.

“And her little pet dog too!” Pinky rose up from the floor.

The dog shrunk away in fear as his owner screamed. Pinky threw Pac a wink and he understood. The yellow teen dove and tackled the animal out of the way just as Pinky was about to “scoop him up”. He rushed over to his teacher and handed her the animal before placing himself between her and the ghosts.

“Run! I’ll take care of this!” He told her.

The woman promptly ran away screaming, clutching her pet to her chest. The ghost gang watched her go with Pac.

“Great timing.” He told them with a grin. “You guys must be physic.”

“Nope, but Blinky’s pretty far out there.” Inky snarked.

“Which is why I do stuff like this!” The red ghost fumed before chucking a slime ball at the blue.

Inky dodged out of the way though and it ended up hitting Spiral in the face. Fuzbits covered his eyes with his ears as it dripped off his nose.

“Ugh… this is one bad night…” he groaned.

“So then… why’d you guys come?” Pac asked.

“Jumbo here wanted to check on the hairball.” Inky explained, nudging Clyde.

“I was just curious how Fuzbits is adjusting to dorm life.” Clyde stated.

Pac smiled at the sweetness of his friend. How this guy got involved with a man like Betrayus, he’d never know.

“We’re about to find out.” Pac told him.

Spiral smiled too as he wiped the slime off his face.

…

“Check out your new digs, Fuz.” Spiral said.

The little monster bounced around the room, sniffing everything he could find like a little, armless, dog.

“But remember, no pets allowed, so behave yourself.” Cyli told him.

As the little guy was sniffing around a chair, a thought occurred to Pac.

“Wait, he’s like… housebroken, right?”

“What? You think we don’t have bathrooms in the Netherworld?” Inky questioned.

“Never thought about it.” Pac admitted.

“Ugh, wish I still hadn’t.” Cyli gagged.

“Okay, Clyde, pack it up.” Blinky told the orange ghost as he played with Fuzbits. “We gotta blow this popsicle stand before the others start wondering where we are.”

Clyde whimpered but did as he was told. Pinky came up behind Pac.

“By the way, Dr Buttocks is cooking up some new monster plan to crush you.” Pinky mentioned, booping him on the nose. “Bye now.”

Pac put a hand over his nose in confusion as she floated over to the window with her friends. They all tried to leave at once though so it took a bit of squeezing to finally get out. Also it left a bit of a mess on their window.

“Looks like we’re in for another attack.” Pac sighed, rubbing his nose. “Which reminds me… I’m monster hungry.”

He folded his hands over his stomach as it gave a small growl.

“I stopped by the mall earlier today and picked up a load of Pac-it-in burgers.” Cyli told him.

Pac broke into a huge grin. Spiral did too but for a very different reason.

“Pac-it-in Burger, huh?” He said, rubbing his chin. “You mean that new burger joint that was named after Pac in his honor?”

Pac groaned and rolled his eyes.

“Come on, Spiral, it wasn’t named after me. Right Cyli?”

The blue girl gave him a cheeky smile. Pac’s eyes widened.

“Wait… WHAT?”

“Dude, you didn’t hear?” Spiral asked. “It was in a part of town that was slimed so frequently that no one went there. After you showed up they were finally able to reopen and decided to name the place after you.”

“Where’d you hear THAT?” Pac asked, slowly losing his grip on reality.

“They announced it at the grand reopening but that was pretty much it.” Cyli admitted. “I just heard your name, asked the owner about it and he told me the story.”

“Okay, but what made you think it was me in the first place?” Pac asked. “Our PLANET has the same name as me. It’s not an uncommon occurrence.”

“That would be because YOU’RE named after Sir Pacster Rhombulous! The great HERO of his time that saved all of Pac Manity from the monsters of the Netherrealm at the ripe age of 19! The teenage HERO of the century!”

“Okay, you know what!?” Pac said, pointing at his cheeky friend. “I-!”

Groooooooooooowllll~

“... am too hungry to argue with you right now…” Pac gave up.

His friends giggled and Cyli put a hand on his shoulder.

“Have a burger, Pac.” She told him. “They’re on the…”

They turned to see Fuzbits towering over the stack of meaty morsels.

“Table…” She finished.

Fuzbits jumped on them and suddenly they were all gone but one.

“Aw man…” Pac slumped. “So bummed…” He cracked a smile. “But majorly impressed.”

The little guy proceeded to chirp a little before meekly pushing the last burger towards Pac.

“Thanks Fuzbits.” Pac giggled, picking it up with his good hand. He raised it to his mouth but froze when he caught his friend’s faces from the corner of his eye. “Uh… he lowered it from his mouth. “Wanna split it?”

His stomach growled again, almost as if it were protesting that idea, and his friends giggled.

“That’s fine, Pac.” Cyli told him.

“Besides, I think that’s his way of saying sorry for biting you.” Spiral told him.

Pac looked back to the furry creature. Fuzbits chirped and nodded. Pac cracked another smile.

“Hey…” He said, leaning on the table to become eye level with him. “It’s okay. We all make mistakes sometimes.”

Groooooooooooooooowwwwl~

Pac winced a bit but kept smiling.

“Just don’t eat all the food again, Kay?” He said.

Fuzbits chirped and nodded.

Pac threw the burger into his mouth with a nod as well.

…

Pac and Spiral snored softly at the back of class the next day. Spiral rested his head in his arms as he snoozed but Pac was sprawled back in his chair and looked like he was seconds away from falling to the floor.

“Better send the guys wake up texts.” Cyli whispered to herself and took out her communicator to do just that.

“Now, class.” Ms Globular said at the head of the class. “Who can tell me the meaning of a dangling participle?”

“Anything like a dangling lemon belly?” Skeebo snorted, pointing to Pac’s sliver of exposed gut. His shirt had ridden up a bit in his sleep. “Caught snoozing in class.”

Just then, Pac’s watch beeped.

“WOAH-! Oof…”

The yellow boy grunted as he jolted awake and slipped out of his chair. The class began to laugh as he pushed himself to his feet and tugged down his shirt with a blush and a sheepish smile.

“Little monster keep you up?” Cyli whispered to them.

“What “little”?” Spiral asked. “The Fuz snores like a 400 pound gorilla.”

Pac yawned and couldn’t help but stretch his arms over his head.

“Sorry, Ms Globular.” He said, mid yawn. “I didn’t get a lot of sleep last night…”

“After saving me and my little Foofy Foo—” the teacher started, switching to baby talk. “—from those horrid ghosts! Not to mention saving the school from a monster attack last night… you can nap in my class anytime.”

Pac turned red in his seat as the whispering started again.

“Wait, that happened?”

“Monsters?”

“Is that why his hand is all bandaged?”

“Maybe.”

“Nothing you can’t get away with now.” Spiral grinned, lightly punching him in the shoulder. “Pacster’s got a lock on “teacher’s pet”.”

Pac was about to argue (again) when the lunch bell rang. Last night’s midnight snack had not been very satisfying and breakfast had been minimalistic due to him and his roommate's sleep deprived state. That being said… he was HUNGRY. He broke into a huge grin and raced out the door, closely followed by his classmates.

“Do you think it was smart leaving Fuzbits home alone?” Cyli questioned, softly, to Spiral as they ran down the hall.

“No sweat.” The red teen told her. “We warned him: No matter what, don’t leave the dorm.”

Meanwhile, Pac slid to a stop in front of the cafeteria and his face dropped.

“Not possible!” He exclaimed.

The room was completely trashed and empty without a scrap of food in sight.

“I just got here.” Pac added.

His friends came up behind him and stared at the scene in shock. They heard a familiar snorting noise and turned to see… Fuzbits. The monster was laying on one of the tables, half asleep and obviously the culprit behind this crime scene. This was proven when he burped loudly.

“That Pac Porker better not have eaten all the food again!” Skeebo’s voice called from down the hall.

The trio began to panic. What to do in such little time?

“Hide the monster!” Cyli told Pac.

The yellow boy jumped over to the fuzzy creature and picked him up before looking around.

“Uh…” His eyes scanned over all the open space. “Where?!” 

The footsteps were getting closer.

“Hurry, dude!” Spiral told him.

Pac thought. He couldn’t hide him in his shirt again. That might have worked from a far but people would notice how it didn’t look quite right. Not to mention he never got bloated so it wouldn’t make sense. Where else could he put something.

Grr…

Pac’s eyes widened as his stomach rumbled. A thought came to mind. A weird and super gross thought but…

Pac shoved Fuzbits into his mouth and almost gagged right then and there. That was a whole lot of smelly monster sitting on his tongue. Cyli gasped in horror.

“You ATE that poor little creature!?” She cried.

Pac looked at her like she’d suggested he stab his aunt with a spoon.

“No way!” He tried to say, but it came out muffled due to his full mouth.

“Ugh!”

Pac covered his mouth with his hands as the other students entered the room with Skeebo at the head.

“That yellow trash compactor did it again!” The blue teen complained.

The students saw the way his cheeks were still puffed out combined with the empty cafeteria and came to the same conclusion. Pac grunted a bit as Fuzbits squirmed but managed to keep himself steady.

“Sorry.” He said in the same muffled voice from earlier.

Skeebo wasn’t having any of it.

“The principal said don’t scarf all the food or else!” He fumed.

The principal also said you aren’t allowed to shove kids in lockers but that never stopped you from doing it to me, Pac wanted to say back. 

It wasn’t that he was defending his tendency to eat-out the cafeteria. He knew it was a problem and he was trying to work on it. He just couldn’t stand how SKEEBO of all people had the nerve to tell him he should follow the rules. But he didn’t say anything because his mouth was currently occupied with a squirming monster that didn’t seem to enjoy being in said mouth.

“That was before the Pac Man became a SUPERHERO.” Spiral told him.

Pac shot Spiral a pointed look from his place on the table. The red teen only smirked as Cyli came up and grabbed the bully’s arm, leading him away.

“Face it, Skeebo.” She told him. “Pac deserves special privileges.”

Pac straight up blushed. Not her too. Other students actually began murmuring in agreement.

“He did get hurt protecting us.” A green kid with glasses said.

“Yeah, I guess the least we can do is let this one slide.” A tall blue one added.

Pac actually felt touched and… a little ashamed to be honest. He hadn’t actually done anything wrong (this time) but… it was still surprising that they thought he had a right to indulge at their expense. He didn’t agree but… It was nice to feel appreciated…

At least until Fuzbits burped INSIDE HIS MOUTH.

“What in…?” Skeebo turned around.

Pac couldn’t take it anymore, he turned around and spat the monster out like a hairball. Students immediately began running for the hills, mistaking the hairy ball for a bunch of vomit. Even Skeebo made a run for it after gagging at the display. 

“I’d lose my lunch if that sewer mouth hadn’t eaten it!”

Well, that was one way to get them out of the lunch room.

“We better get Fuzbits out of here.” Cyli said as the monster stood up and shook off all the saliva on him.

“Before the hairball gets us all suspended.” Spiral added. “By the way.” He said, leaning over to Pac. “Gag me gross.”

Pac groaned and plucked a wad of hair out of his mouth.

“Tell me about it. Anyway, I’m almost out of power berries. So we better hit the tree of life.”

“Let’s check out Sir C’s lab too.” Spiral agreed. “See if the old guy’s invented any new anti monster weapons yet.”

Cyli slipped her pink backpack off her shoulders and presented it to Pac.

“THIS is where I would hide Fuzbits.” She told him.

Pac plucked the last of Fuzbits’s fur out of his mouth with an expression of “end me” stricken across his face.

“NOW she tells me…”

…

“Better crank it.” Spiral said, as he pulled himself up another branch. “Cyli didn’t look too stoked we left her babysitting the Fuzz.”

“Right.” Pac said as he slipped another berry into his dispenser. “Like we could let that monster loose in here. He’s like me but with even less filter. There wouldn’t be a berry left.”

Spiral chuckled.

“Speaking of the little guy…” his smile dropped. “You really think we can make the whole “living with us” thing work?”

Pac took a moment to stare off into nothing before his shoulders slumped.

“No…” he admitted. “Not if we wanna be good heros, students, and functional members of society.” He paused to pluck another berry. “Not to mention we had our first close call in just one day. He’ll eventually get caught and probably… sent off to a lab to get experimented on.”

Spiral nodded and picked a few more too.

“So… what are we gonna do?” He asked.

“I don’t know. I was thinking of sending him to live with my aunt Spheria but we’ve already seen how Fuzbits reacts to dogs and my aunt has a pet pug. And he’s… a lot more aggressive than little Foofy Foo is.” He allowed himself to giggle.

Spiral chuckled too.

“Yeah… good old Uggles.” He said, grabbing another berry. “It’s gonna be okay, Pac.” He told his yellow friend. “We’ll figure something out… I know how important this is to you.”

Pac cracked a sad smile and nodded.

“....Thanks.”

Spiral nodded too…. and then his face turned surprised.

“....Spiral?” Pac called, noticing his friend’s stuper.

“I just realized something…” the red teen practically whispered.

“What?” Pac asked.

The curly haired teen broke into a huge grin.

“You called us heros.”

Pac’s face dropped and he facepalmed.

“You still aren’t allowed to call me a hero.” He informed the cackling teen as he climbed away. “Or Pac Man, or anything else you might come up with.” 

“What about Ghost Chomping Champion?” Spiral called.

“Not a chance.” 

The two of them continued to laugh until something caught Pac’s eye.

“Woah….” Pac breathed as he stared at the berry before him. “I just struck the mother load.”

He reached forward and plucked it from it’s stem. It was about five times bigger than a usual power berry as it filled his entire palm. It was also a midtone gray with glowing green zigzag lines circling around it.

“I can not wait to find out what mega power this baby’s got.” Pac grinned.

He attempted to put it into his berry dispenser but it was too big to fit. Pac stared at it a bit before trying again but inevitably failing.

“No way I’m not taking this honker.” He said before throwing into Spiral’s backpack. “... Thanks…”

“No problem, pal.” Spiral grinned with a thumbs up.

“No… really… thanks.”

The red teen’s eyes softened. He gave his best friend a warm nod and the two of them began to scale down the tree.

…

Meanwhile in the Netherrealm, Pinky laid sprawled across a rock before sighing and floating up to her friends.

“I’m bored.” She moaned.

“That’s because Betrayus and Doctor Butt Breath have been locked in there for hours.” Blinky agreed.

The four of them had tried to gain more info on what they were planning next but they couldn’t hear anything from behind the locked door.

“So, poke your ugly head though and see what they’re doing.” Inky told him.

“And risk getting it chewed off?” The red ghost glared. “Stick your own neck out ya weenie!”

“Hey, put 'em up, Blinky!” Inky said, throwing a few warm up punches.

Blinky got red(er) in the face and did the same.

“I’m gonna punch your lights out, Inky!”

Just as they were about to lunge at each other, a pair of orange arms stopped them.

“Violence is never the answer.” Clyde told them.

The other two glared at him.

“Says who!?”

“Put a sock in it, Clyde!”

Clyde proceeded to bash their heads together and send them to the floor.

“Hmm… perhaps I was wrong.” The orange ghost admitted.

“Oh, move it, you three.” Pinky told them, floating past them.

She stuck her head through the wall just enough so that she could see and looked in. Dr Buttocks was holding another ray gun, though this one had only one nozzle and more rings around it. The small ghost chuckled evilly.

“I hold proof positive that I am the greatest scientist that ever lived or expired!” He raved.

Butler sighed.

“Wish his ego would expire.” The purple ghost said to the gargoyle next to him.

Betrayus laid stretched out on his throne and yawned.

“As they say, the proof is in the pudding…. whatever that means.” The overlord said. “So until you turn Pac Man into yellow pudding, it’s all just hot air, like you.”

The scientist only hummed confidently.

“I shall now prove my new molecular magnifier machine is the most brilliant invention ever!”

He fiddled with a few buttons before aiming the ray gun at… his brother.

“What?!” Butler said. “No!”

He tried to duck out of the way but his twin fired before he had the chance to hide. Instead of a flash, this time there was a red beam that hit the purple ghost. He then proceeded to grow until he almost hit his head on the ceiling.

“No wonder mother hated you more.” Giant Butler muttered.

“Hm.” Betrayus hummed as he floated over to admire the machine’s work. “Not bad. But who needs a bigger hinnie head?”

“No one.” Buttocks answered with ease. “But, what about a gigantic monster?”

Once again, he pointed it at the monster and pulled the trigger. The beast began to grow before their very eyes.

“Okay,” Betrayus grinned as it continued to expand. “This I’m starting to like. Oh yeah, this is big! Huge!”

Too huge. The monster grew so large that there wasn’t enough space for it in the room. It became so crowded that it squished Betrayus and Dr Buttocks against the wall.

“Stop wasting time,” Betrayus ordered in a muffled voice. “and start making me mega monsters to start stomping Pac World!”

“Okay.” Dr B said, also squashed.

Pinky pulled away just in time to not get a face full of monster… or so she thought.

“Whew…” She sighed.

“What?” Blinky asked. “What did you see?”

She was just about to answer when Inky pressed his head against the door and cut her off.

“Wait, I think I hear something.” He told them.

The other boys floated over just in time for the door to be thrown open by a part of the colossal beast. They were all sent flying with a scream and crashed into Pinky, taking her along for the ride that landed them splat against a wall.

“Looks like The Pac Man’s pavement pizza…” Inky said as he slid down the wall in a pile of slime.

The others all moaned in agreement as they dripped onto the floor.

…

“This is bad.” Pac stated as he and his friends stood in Sir C’s lab.

“Not only has he not come up with any new weapons to fight monsters…” Cyli continued.

“Looks like the old dude’s lost his marbles.” Spiral finished.

“But not my hearing!” Sir C informed the red teen as he continued to throw tools and other machine parts over his shoulder. “Stop gavin’ and help me search. Your hairy new friend too.” He said, patting Fuzbits on the head.

He crawled to another part of the floor and the monster hopped along with him. The three teens shared a look and collectively shrugged before getting on their hands and knees and crawling along too.

“What are we looking for, Sir Cumfrence?” Cyli asked.

“Darned if I can remember.” The scientist admitted. “Just uh…. give me whatever you find.”

“Oh yeah…” Spiral whispered. “Totally lost it.”

“Can still hear ya!”

“So what are we going to do if monsters attack again?” Cyli questioned.

WOOP WOOP WOOP WOOP WOOP WOOP!

They all flinched as the security alarms went off.

“Sounds like we’re about to find out.” Spiral said, getting to his feet.

Fuzbits looked at them in concern as they started running towards the door and bounded off after them.

“Without any help from Sir C.” Pac added.

“I may have lost my marbles but… I found ‘em again!” The green man said, picking up a blue marble off the ground.

…

The ground shook as a lone Pac Worlder ran through the streets. The blue bespectacled man looked behind him in fear and fell to the floor with a scream as a dark shadow engulfed the city. The gigantic Gargoyle was bigger than any building in Pacopolis and ready to lay waste to it. Dr Buttocks chuckled as more screams were heard from below.

“My latest mutant masterpiece is about to flatten Pac World.” The scientist cackled. “You can run but you can’t hide.”

The civilians fled in fear as the ghost army slimed them from above. Betrayus watchedt through his slug cam in glee.

“Enough fooling around. Do it Doctor Buttocks!” The lord ordered through the scientist’s earpiece.

“Slime bombs away!” Dr. B ordered.

On cue, the ghosts dived down towards the Pac Worlders like fighter jets and proceeded to dump heaping piles of slime onto their targets. By the time Pac and his friends arrived on their hoverboards (Fuzbits riding on Spiral’s with him), they had all been rolled into a big ball of slime.

“Looks like we got here just in time.” Cyli stated. 

The monster was only a few steps away from crushing the poor souls.

“Yeah, to see gargantuan dance the monster ball all over those poor guys!” Spiral added.

“I’ll stop the slime bombers.” Pac told them before flying off to do just that.

“We’ll try to get the slimies out of the monster’s path.” Cyli told him.

“Ready?” Spiral asked, pulling out his strength berry.

“Let’s do it.” Cyli said, taking out one of her own.

Meanwhile, Pac had placed himself between the ghosts and the citizens just as they laid down another round of attacks. With surprising accuracy, he managed to catch each slime ball in his mouth and licked his lips before going after the ghosts responsible. Many of them shrank in fear and tried to run away but to no avail. He ate them with a distinct “waka” sound occurring every time he did so.

“Oh, I hate that sound!” A red ghost whimpered.

“Gives me nightmares!” A blue one agreed.

Well, thankfully they didn’t have to hear it for long because they were on their way to his stomach only moments after.

Cyli and Spiral flew towards the slime prison and pushed. Cyli flinched back in disgust at all the slime it got on her hands but she didn’t have time to cringe for long. The monster was closing in. Cyli and Spiral pushed with all their might and managed to move them out of the way just in time.

Just as the last three ghosts were gobbled, Pac caught sight of their leader and began his pursuit. Dr Buttocks noticed his locked gaze and fled in fear.

“This cannot be happening again!” The scientist begged. “I’m a genius! I can’t be-”

GULP!

He could be. Pac swallowed him down with a grin.

“Down the Pac-hatch.” He grinned.

A muffled groan sounded from Pac’s stomach but… not the hunger kind. Pac looked down at his middle in shock as Dr. B continued to moan from within his belly.

“Oh, that cursed lemon broke my glasses….”

Ok, that was a little too weird, even for him. Pac Immediately belched up all the eyeballs of the former ghost army. His stomach glowed the same color as the scientist ghost and Pac had to press his hands to his belly in order to force up Dr Buttocks’s eyeballs. Wow, this guy was stubborn.

“Ugh…” he shivered. “Wicked.”

“Yo, amigo!” Spiral called.

Pac looked down to see his friends in a panic.

“We need big time help!” Cyli told him.

The two of them kept barely pushing the slime ball out of the way of the monster but it was getting closer every time. Pac reached into his backpack and held up the giant berry from earlier.

“Time to see what this puppy can do.” Pac said.

Pac threw it into his mouth and swallowed it.

“Mega yum.” He grinned… at least until his body started growing. “Really BIG yum.” Pac stated. It wasn’t like the growth berry he had in the Nether World, this time, the growing did NOT stop. Very soon, his orange helmet and hoverboard were too small for him and he had to slip his backpack off before it ripped. How his clothes were affected by the berry power he didn’t know but he was grateful for it. “New meaning to cool!” Pac cheered as his form towered over the buildings of Pacopolis. “I AM PACZILLA!”

The newly supersized teen locked his eyes on the gargoyle monster and took a heaping step towards him… that resulted in him crushing someone’s car.

“OOPS…” His booming voice apologized. “SO SORRY. AND I THOUGHT MY FEET WERE BIG BEFORE!”

His eyes shot back to his friends as he heard them scream. The monster was upon them and ready to stomp them to dust. Not on his watch. Pac straight up TACKLED the thing to the floor, knocking him a good fifty yards away. Fuzbits covered his eyes as the two of them slammed against the ground.

“Yeah! Bring it on, Paczilla!” Spiral cheered.

“Take him down!” Cyli added.

Pac did his best to keep it pinned down as the beast struggled to stand up. He slammed him back to the floor with a thud and tried to keep him down with his body weight. This worked for only a moment before the monster picked him up off the floor and threw him three blocks away. It’s victory didn’t last for long though and Pac kicked it to the floor. This continued with them going back and forth until they just ended up kind of wrestling. Pac stumbled backwards and tripped over a smaller house, resulting in him falling onto his back with the monster roaring in his face.

Fuzbits and the rest of Pac’s friends gasped as he was practically flattened.

“GET… OFF OF ME!” Pac grunted. “JEEZ, YOU'RE HEAVIER THAN A TEN TON MONSTER TRUCK.”

Pac recoiled his leg and kicked the monster off of him in one swift motion, causing it to go flying and hit it’s head on a nearby building. It slumped to the floor, momentarily subdued. Pac stood up with a grin.

“Way to go, humongo bro!” Spiral cheered.

“You did it, Pac!” Cyli beamed.

All the civilians let out muffled cheers from inside their little slime bubble. Pac gave a sheepish grin at the praise and gentilly got to his knees in front of them.

“IS EVERYONE OKAY?” He asked them, trying to lower his voice so they weren’t overwhelmed.

“Just fine, great hero!”

“Thanks to you that is!”

“Pac Man saved us again!

“Let’s hear it for Pac Man!”

The giant teen blushed and let his blue eyes fall to a smirking Spiral. Pac sighed and scratched the back of his big head.

“OKAY…” He mumbled. “MAYBE I’M A HERO…”

“YOU BET YOU ARE! WOO!” Spiral fist pumped.

Even more cheers rolled out of the slimed civilians and other Pac Worlders that hadn't been trapped ran over to his hulking form to cheer him on. Just then, the ghost gang floated over to his head.

“You might wanna put a pause on the yippie-do-da dance.” Blinky told him.

“Cause you’re about to be monster toe jam!” Inky stated.

Everyone turned to look in fear as the monster got back to its feet, lifting a giant spherical building over his head and getting ready to throw.

“LOOK OUT!” Pac said.

The giant teen scooped all the Pac Worlders into his arms before placing his body over them to shield them from the blow. The ball bounced off his body but knocked him over in the process. Pac hit the ground with a pained grunt.

“Pac!” They called, running over to his face.

“NO PROBLEM.” The yellow teen told them with a wince, getting back to his feet. “I CAN HANDLE THI-”

But then his body began to shrink.

“OH NO… MY MEGa berry power is wearing off!”

Pac fell into Spiral’s arms as Inky, Blinky, Pinky, and Clyde came down to meet them.

“Better power back up, pronto.” Blinky told him.

“That was the only Paczilla berry.” Pac told them, getting back to his feet.

Boom!

They all looked wearily up at the sky again as the monster began trudging towards them. Fuzbits snarled at the beast but that was all anyone could do… At least until a certain banana vehicle came around the corner.

“It’s Sir Cumfrence!” Pac beamed.

“With the solution to your monstrous problem!” The scientist told him.

“All right! You brought us a weapon!” Spiral cheered.

Fuzbits continued to snarl but now seemingly at Sir C… and then the scientist blabbered and snorted back.

“Does everyone speak monster except us?” Pac mumbled.

“What’s gotten into Fuzbits?” Cyli asked.

“Oh, the little fella’s concerned about hurtin’ the big fella.” The scientist explained. “After all, he’s still a monster.”

Said monster roared in the distance.

“But no worries!” Sir C continued. “I’ve got the solution right here!”

He pulled out a tiny ray gun and hopped off his banana vehicle.

“That’s it?” Spiral questioned. “We’re supposed to stop this gigundo monster with that… little thing?”

“Oh, shouldn’t poo-poo it till ya do it.” Sir C told him.

Just then, the gun went off… and it turned out he was holding it backwards because it shot a beam right at him.

“Whoops, wrong end.” The scientist said.

That was the last thing they heard before he disappeared in a puff of smoke. They all looked down in shock to see a small, chuckling, five-inch tall Sir C.

“Works much better when you actually point it at the target.” He stated in a squeaky voice. “But, you get the idea.”

“It’s a shrinking ray!” Pac put the pieces together.

“Ah, flawless!” Cyli grinned.

“Yeah.” Spiral agreed. “Who’s gonna be scared of a little monster?”

Fuzbits snarled in protest.

“Chill, bud.”

The monster was getting closer. They didn’t have much time.

“One problem!” Sir C added as Pac leaned down to pick up the shrink ray. “You have to be within two feet of the target or she doesn’t work.”

“That’s a little close for comfort…” Cyli said.

“I’m all over it.” Pac told them.

After a quick retrieval of his helmet and hoverboard, he was off.

“Uh, make sure to point it the right way!” The shrunken scientist called.

Fuzbits watched the yellow teen fly away with his ears flattened to his head in concern. Pac soared into the sky, zipping around the gargoyle as it swung at him with broken pieces of building. It roared and throwed one of the columns at him. Pac narrowly managed to duck before it threw the other structure in its hand. Pac dived out of the way before swooping up to the side of it’s head and pointing the ray. He was just about to shoot when a giant hand swatted him out of the way.

“Hold still, would ya.” Pac said as he zipped around the creature, looking for an opening.

He tried a few more times but he never got close enough long enough. He backed up a bit so he was out of reach and his body was illuminated by the double moons behind him. The monster roared at him again and Pac got an idea.

“Now or never.” He muttered to himself.

And then he dived again… straight into the monster’s mouth, teeth closing behind him.

Fuzbits gasped along with Cyli and Spiral. The Pac Worlders below all watched with bated breath as the monster stood there… An energy enveloped the monster, it opened its mouth and the beam of the shrink ray poured out of it. Pac managed to duck out of there just as the beast began shrinking. He landed on his feet in front of the shrunken monster that was now no bigger than a ginny pig.

“Not so tough now.” Pac smiled down at it.

Sir C and Fuzbits bounced over to the young hero.

“Uh, mind reversing the doohickey on the thingamajig and… zappin’ me?” The scientist asked.

“Sure thing.” Pac told him, doing just that.

Though he seemed to over do it a bit because the green man grew to three times his regular size.

“Sorry Sir C. Guess it over cooked ya.” Pac winced at his mistake. “Maybe if I just adjust-”

“Oh, maybe later, my boy!” Sir C put his hands up to stop him. “Allow me to enjoy my ELEVATED status for a while.”

“You really pulled it off Sir C.” Spiral told the scientist.

“You totally saved the day.” Cyli agreed.

“Nothin’ to it!” He grinned. “Pac had the really BIG job.”

“Have to agree on that one.” Cyli shrugged. “And I think THEY do too.”

She jabbed her thumb backwards just as the Pac Worlders rushed up to the boy. Pac flinched a bit as he was crowded by happy cheering and pats on the back. His friend’s watched as, for the first time ever, he smiled at the praise and even wrote an autograph for a little boy that asked. The moment was cut short however when an uproar from the citizens who were trapped in the slimeball cut through the other noise.

“What about us!?”

“We’re still in here!”

“Do something, you old fart!”

“Hm…” Sir C hummed. “Looks like I better get to work inventing Pac World’s new DEsliming stations.

“Meanwhile, guess I've got a little snack to finish.” Pac said as he walked up to the slime ball.

He inserted his face into the slime before sucking it back. By the end of it, all they needed was a bath it seemed. He licked his lips with a smile as he helped the citizens to their feet.

“Really, Pac?” Cyli giggled. “We couldn’t have just ran them through the nearest car wash?”

“Hey, I missed lunch, okay?” Pac defended himself with a shy smile as he put his hands over his stomach.

They grinned. Hero or not, Pac would always be their dorky friend.

…

“Forget it!” Betrayus roared. “No regeneration chamber for you! This’ll teach you to fail me, you incompetent twit!”

Buttock’s eyes quivered in fear as Butler floated up holding a black baseball bat.

“Here you go, my lord.”

“What’s this for?”

“Thought you might relish some batting practice.”

The overlord broke into a devious smile as he took the bat in his hands.

“Excellent idea!”

…

Cyli, Pac, and Spiral happily stood in Sir Comfrence’s lab as he fiddled with something while on his extendo-craft.

“Sorry we ever doubted you, Sir C.” Spiral apologized.

“You’re the greatest scientist ever.” Cyli agreed.

“We know you’ve still got it.” Pac added as the scientist juggled three gadgets with one hand while balancing on his vehicle.

“Even if you are totally out there.” Spiral whispered.

“Still hear you!” The man announced while turning to look at them. “And you’re right! I still got it! Just can’t always find it… But I also have some serious scientific competition from the Netherworld- OH!”

The teen watched as he fell backwards off his chair and landed perfectly on his feet after doing a backflip. Their eyes widened in shock.

“So it looks like I’m going to be stuck down here for a while.” He continued as if nothing had happened. “With just that grumpy rust bucket for company…”

Grinder made a miffed beeping noise as his creator grabbed an apple off of the table.

“I’m ready for you this time, Bolts For Brains!”

He threw the fruit right at him but the robot dodged, making it’s new target Spiral’s face. The tall teen closed his eyes and prepared to be conked in the head with an apple when Pac jumped up so his face lined up with Spiral’s and gobbled it whole. The boy took a second to enjoy the only piece of real food he’d had since breakfast before an idea came to mind.

“What you need… is a pet!” Pac exclaimed.

“A pet monster that is.” Cyli said, catching on to what Pac was suggesting.

She opened her backpack and allowed Fuzbits to hop out happily. Sir C raised his eyebrows, curiously at the offer.

“Now, before you say no…” Pac put his hands up.

“The little guy really needs a good home.” Cyli said.

“Poor furball’s an orphan like Pac.” Spiral said, putting a hand on his friend’s shoulder.

Grinder beeped in protest but his creator grinned wide.

“I’d be delighted to adopt this adorable beastie!”

Fuzbits jumped up in delight before bouncing over to the green skinned genius for heat pats. He turned back to Pac for a moment. The boy’s eyes softened as he kneeled down to him.

“Be good, okay?” He said, reaching out his bandaged hand to him. “I’ll bring you some burgers next time I come to visit.”

Fuzbits cooed as he ever so gently rubbed his head against his hand and then jumped onto him for a hug. Pac wrapped his arms around the fuzzy creature for a moment before he bounded off back to his new owner.

“That’s great Sir Cumfrence!” Cyli said, nervously, as she dragged Pac to his feet and started backing up towards the door.

“Congrats!” Spiral said in the same tone. “We gotta get out of here.” He whispered.

“Before the “adorable beastie” starts trashing the place!” Cyli’s whispered back.

Oh right. He forgot about that.

“See you, Sir C!” Pac called.

And then they ran. The last thing they heard was a loud crash and hearty laughing from the scientist.

Chapter Text

“AAAAH!” The ghost screamed as Pac swooped in.

It tried to run away but bumped into another ghost while doing so. Those two and the three more that were in the line all went down the hatch. Pac then flew upwards and continued to gobble down ghost after ghost. He zipped through the city at lightning speed, ghosts disappearing left and right. He slid down a tube and wolfed down six ghosts in a line before chasing another six around a tower and using their momentum to carry them into his awaiting mouth. Pac swallowed with a smile and placed his hands over his squirming belly.

“You go Pac!” Cyli called from the building she and Spiral were perched on.

Spiral sucked up a nearby ghost before turning to his friends in awe.

“Wow. I’ve never seen the Pac Star wolf THIS MANY ghosts!” Spiral said.

“He’s been going strong for close to an hour.” Cyli added with an impressed smile.

Pac gulped down another ghost and wiped his mouth before spotting another group. He grabbed his tongue and pulled it so that it elongated like a frog’s and proceeded to swing it over his head like a lasso before throwing it around the ghosts and pulling them into his mouth with it.

“Not to mention all his new tricks.” Cyli giggled.

It had been quite a surprise when they were hanging out together and Pac just suddenly stretched his tongue across the table to snatch Spiral’s burger. The two of them had laughed for a solid three seconds before noticing Cyli’s dumbfounded expression. Poor Pac looked like he’d forgotten she was there and was too mortified to explain what had just happened so Spiral had to tell her that Pac’s tongue could extend. It had been a… confusing experience to say the least.

Anyways, back to the ghost fight. One of them tried to hide in a statue and it seemed to be a pretty good tactic as Pac circled around the stone structure, trying to find a way to get at the ghost inside. Eventually, he just ate the whole thing. Ghost AND statue. Yeah, she’d also learned that he could eat inedible objects. He burped a bit afterwards before flying off but that was it. He continued onwards until he felt himself dip a bit.

“Uh oh.” He said. “Gotta, power up.”

He tossed a metallic berry into his mouth and flew up as his body transformed. His skin turned metallic like the berry, as did his hair, and his clothes took on a different color, red on the right and blue on the left.

“Full steam ahead!” He announced, showcasing his teeth to also be made of metal.

He rammed right into a bunch of ghosts, sending them flying into the air and then back down into his mouth. 

Chomp! Chomp!

The remaining ghosts all sunk into the floor, seemingly escaping… at least until he brought out his tongue that had turned into a magnet. It brought all the ghosts out of the ground and into his mouth. He looked around to make sure that, yup, all done. He jumped onto the roof his friends were on, turning back to his usual yellow.

“Pac, my man! You really Packed ‘em in this time!” Spiral cheered.

Pac grinned and put his hands on his hips.

“It’s a gift.” He shrugged.

But their smiles vanished when something… very weird happened. There was a low burbling sound and then… his stomach MOVED. Like something was pushing on him from the inside.

“Ooh…” It happened again. “Oop… ohhh… agghh!”

He continued to make odd noises as his stomach visibly squirmed like something was trying to force its way out.

“Pac, what’s wrong?” Spiral asked, reaching towards him.

The inner force then pushed on him backwards, knocking him off his feet and onto his back. His body began to twitch and tense like he was having some kind of seizure.

“He ate too many ghosts!” Cyli stated in fear.

Pac tried to open his mouth to say something only for a gurgling sound to occur. It sounded like he was choking on something as he pushed himself into a sitting position.

“The impossible finally happened.” Spiral said as Pac’s stomach continued to pulse.

“Pac ate too much!”

The squirming got more intense as Pac’s cheeks puffed out.

“Look out, he’s gonna blow!” Spiral shouted.

And good thing too cuz the moment he said that a HUGE belch erupted out of Pac accompanied by what was basically a flood of eyeballs. After the fact, Pac let out one more, smaller, burp and a single pair of eyeballs popped out. Pac sighed.

“That’s better.” He said, jumping to his feet. “Eat too much? As if. It was probably just the tuna with sauerkraut I had for breakfast.” Pac said, pounding on his stomach a bit. “Come on, let’s get something to eat! I’m starved.”

“You just ate an army of ghosts.” Cyli said in shock. “AND a STATUE.”

“What can I say?” Pac said as his friends followed him off the roof. “Eating gives me an appetite.”

…

“Hey Ogle.” Blinky greeted the chef cyclops ghost. “Three slug dogs and a roach burger.”

The hat wearing ghost turned to face them.

“Sorry. Fresh out of roaches today.” He informed them. Just then the last of his slugs ran off. He tried to swat them but to no avail. “Uh, make that slugs, too. But I’ve got loads of sludge stew left!”

He gestured to the bowl of green slime and worms.

“Again!?” Inky pouted.

“Yuck!” Blinky gagged.

“Bummer!” Pinky agreed.

“No wonder…” Clyde winced.

“Would youse like to enjoy a refreshing beverage with your repast?” Ogle asked them as he served up their bowls.

The ghosts winced at their bowls but Blinky shrugged.

“Why not?” He smiled.

Ogle smiled wide and handed over what looked to be sludge stew with no worms in a cup. The ghosts groaned and Pinky pushed away the cup.

“Uh, do you have low fat?” She asked.

“Inky, Blinky, Pinky, and Clyde?” 

They turned to see two sentinel guards.

“... Maybe?” Inky replied.

“Lord Betrayus wants to see you.” They told them.

“Whatever it was, Inky did it!” Blinky said.

“Hey! Clam it, stoolie!”

He tried to throw his drink at Blinky’s head but instead threw it into Clyde’s mouth. He licked his lips.

“Not bad.” He smiled.

The four of them followed the sentinel ghosts and passed a swarm of floating eyeballs. They watched them go by in a sort of silent mourning. These were their friends after all. Even if they were on separate teams now, technically.

“Hiya, Glooky.” Blinky waved at a pair he recognized. “Sorry you got swallowed and spat…”

The eyeballs turned to give him a sad look before carrying on towards the regeneration chamber. Clyde sniffed curiously.

“Does anyone else smell tuna and sauerkraut?” The orange ghost asked.

They came to a stop in front of their fuming leader, Lord Betrayus.

“Nothing makes me angrier than eyeballs before lunch!” He seethed. “How could Pac Man know my ghosts were going to attack!? It’s like there’s a spy among us…”

The ghost Gange shrank away in fear as Betrayus towered over them.

“I’ve got my eye on you…” He turned to the purple ghost in the corner. “Butler!”

The tiny ghost flinched back at that accusation.

“Oh! That reminds me. I should be watching the satellite feed from my slug cam!”

And he flew off to do just that.

… 

This particular slug just so happened to be in the cafeteria of Maze High and turned on to the scene of Pac and Spiral sitting at a table piled high with food.

“Ugh. Look at him.” He sneered at the image of his smiling face. “That glutton never stops eating.”

This statement was proven as Pac ran over to the tray holding all the burgers and dumped them into his mouth. At least until the lunch lady ripped it out of his hands.

“Hey!” She said, getting in his face. “Leave some food for the other students!”

Pac had thus snapped out of his food trance and looked to his angry peers.

“Yeah, Pac Blimp!” Skeebo said. “Just because you can eat anything doesn’t mean you get to!”

“Sorry…” he said, trying to hide his nervousness. Positive attention was sitting better with him nowadays but having the entire lunch room glare at him was still upsetting. “Uh… why don’t I let you guys get first dibs on dessert?” He offered.

“How about you let them get first dibs on everything?” The lunch lady cut in. “You’ve had enough. Please leave the cafeteria.”

Pac flinched back a bit. Were they seriously kicking him out?

“Yeah! Get lost, Dumptruck!” Skeebo said with a smirk.

At this point, Spiral had stood up.

“You can’t do that! That’s-”

“Fine! It’s fine!” Pac said, covering his mouth. “Right! Sorry again. I’ll be leaving now.”

He slowly backed away towards the door. Yeah, confrontation was still not his strong suit… also…

Just as he reached the exit, his stomach growled… loudly. He blushed and ran out the door before anyone could comment. Spiral followed him out.

“Man, that’s harsh!” Spiral said as they walked out of the building. “Suspended from the lunch room? I didn’t know they could do that.”

“Only for me I guess…” Pac said, hands over his stomach. “Now where are we supposed to eat?”

…

As Betrayus watched this, a thought came to mind.

“... Ah…. FOOD.” He said. “That’s the Pac Man’s weakness, and that’s how we’ll bring him to his knees.”

“You want to stop him from eating?” Blinky questioned.

Inky SNORTED.

“Pfft! Never gonna happen!” The blue ghost said.

“I’ve got a better idea.” Betrayus said. “You will get Pac Man to eat so much that he’ll be too full to eat anything else! Power berries or ghosts!”

“Pfft! Never-”

Blinky covered Inky’s mouth. Pinky flew up next to them and asked:

“But, how are we supposed to-”

“Figure it out!” Betrayus ordered.

“Uh, w-we’re on it!”

“Done deal!”

“Uh, never in doubt!”

They promptly flew off.

“I feel an evil laugh coming on.” Betrayus smirked as they went.

“I suppose you’ll be wanting the mirror.” Butler said, bringing out just that.

…

“But Pac has become our friend.” Clyde said as they wandered away from the palace. “But how can we be his friends if we work for Betrayus? Against our friend… for Betrayus…”

His friends looked at him as he started to whimper.

“Oh, it’s tearing me apart!” The orange ghost exclaimed as his body split in two down the middle and he started weeping.

Inky and Blinky promptly floated up to him and smacked each of his half’s across the face.

“Snap out of it!” They shouted in unison.

“Well I don’t wanna do anything to hurt Pacums either.” Pinky said, crossing her arms.

“Oh what a tangled web we weave.” Clyde’s right side said.

“When ghosts practice to deceive.” His left half finished.

“Knock it off, Spookspear.” Blinky told him.

“We gotta follow orders.” Inky said. “But the good news is: Pac really likes to pack it away.”

“Yeeeeah, so we’d be doing him a big favor!” Blinky reasoned with a smile.

“Maybe Pac will be so greatful, he’ll get us our bodies back early!” Pinky said with a twirl. “Or at least invite me to the movies.”

“But, if Pac finds out we’re working for Betrayus, won’t he have to eat us?” Clyde questioned.

“So we don’t tell him.” Blinky said.

“But won't he be suspicious?”

“Not if he doesn’t know the food’s coming from us!”

“Oooooooohhhhh…” Inky, Pinky, and Clyde said in unison with big grins.

“So let’s get to work wrestling up the grub!” Blinky said.

And with that, they took off.

…

Cyli swooped down as Pac and Spiral were walking along the path.

“Wanna go to the skate park and catch some air on our hoverboards?” She asked them.

“Hm, I’d rather get something to eat.” Pac admitted, clutching his stomach.

“You're hungry… AGAIN?” The girl questioned.

“Hey! They tossed us from the cafeteria just as we were getting started!” Spiral told her.

“No kidding, Cyli. I’m seriously hungry…” Pac sighed.

Cyli watched them with a bored look as they carried on, clearly not believing them. Just then, they stumbled upon a huge table stacked high with all sorts of food. They gasped at the sight.

“Pacamondo…” Pac mumbled, licking his lips.

He and Spiral ran over to the table as Cyli watched in horror.

“Oh, yeah! We’re styling now!” Spiral said, sitting down.

“Lock those lips!” Cyli told them as they began eating. “You don’t know whose picnic that is!”

“I don’t see anyone here…” Pac reasoned. “I thought we were the only ones IN this part of the city to be honest.”

Cyli looked around at the empty place.

“Oh, so someone just left an entire picnic right here in the park?” She said, incredulously.

“Looks like.” Spiral said.

“Maybe they had to leave in a hurry.” Pac said, throwing an apple into his mouth (core and all). “Anyway, it looks like it’s been sitting here for a while. Don’t want it to go to waste!”

Cyli watched them eat in disbelief.

…

Meanwhile Betrayus was delighted.

“That's right. Keep scarfing, Pork Man. Soon you won't be able to eat anything else.”

He then proceeded to call for his ghosts. The sky’s of the Netherworld filled with specters as they waited by the entrance gate. Waiting…

…

Spiral patted his stomach as Pac stretched his hands over his head.

“Delicious.” Pac smiled with a hand over his round belly. “I could eat that all over again.” He said, gesturing to the empty table.

“True that.” Spiral agreed.

“Too bad you're out of food.” Cyli said, still clearly annoyed, and leaning against her hoverboard.

“Yeah…” Pac said, sounding a little disappointed.

“Hm!” Spiral hummed, noticing something. “Pimento.” He pointed to the single olive left on the table.

Pac immediately shot up again and the two of them bumped heads as they both dived at it. The boys fell back to the floor and Cyli shook her head and tried to take her leave… but then she stepped on something.

“Ugh…” She groaned, lifting up her shoe. “Huh?” She hummed, looking down at the goop on her boot. “Pink slime?”

She looked around, confused, but saw nothing.

…

Back at the dorms…

“Oh come on!” Cyli groaned. “You two can NOT still be hungry!”

The boys seemed to ignore her as they drained their chip bags for all they had.

“Hey, dude.” Spiral said to Pac. “You may be the reigning chow king… but I’m a close second.”

They shared a grin.

“Proving what? Einstein’s theory of glutton-tivity?” Cyli asked.

Cyli didn’t notice it… but Pac flinched at that. It was super tiny but… he flinched and put his bag down. He was used to comments from everyone else. Of course he was. But did one of his best friends really just call him a glutton right to his face? He thought friends were the only people who weren’t allowed to do that…

Thankfully for him, there was an interruption to his thoughts.

“Knock knock!” Someone called. “Pacopolis pizza delivery!”

Pac pushed his previous thoughts to the back of his mind (which was easy to do when there was food around) and shot to his feet.

“Pizza’s here!” He cheered.

“Alright!” Spiral fist pumped.

“Wait a minute… we didn’t order pizza.” Cyli said.

But the boys were already pushing past her and opening the door… to see a mountain of pizza boxes. 

Pac’s pupils dialated at the sight and his tongue hung out of his mouth, almost touching the floor.

“PIZZA!” He and Spiral shouted.

“Pepperoni, sausage, mushroom, pepperoni sausage AND mushroom! Cheese crust, thin crust, thick crust!”

Pac snatched the boxes out of his hands.

“Don’t read ‘em! Eat ‘em!” He beamed before passing a dumbstruck Cyli and running back into the dorm.

Spiral followed carrying another stack.

“Something isn’t kosher here…” Cyli said. “And it’s not just the pizza.”

The boys smacked the pizzas down and started eating. They ate full slices at a time, slices stacked on top of eachother, Pac even shoved an entire pie in his mouth and then the BOX IT CAME IN. Usually he tried to tone down the weirdness around Cyli but he didn’t really care anymore. If she was gonna call him a glutton to his face, he should be allowed to give her a real reason to.

“Guys, think about this.” Cyli told them, walking back into the room. “Who ever heard of free pizza… DELIVERED?”

“Must be from a fan.” Pac said, mouth full. He shoved another slice in his mouth before giving her a blank look. “You know. Someone who actually CARES whether I’m hungry or not.”

Cyli just sighed.

“Spiral, tell him something’s fishy.” She begged.

Spiral had sensed the shift in his friend’s tone and paused for a moment.

“... I think that’s the anchovies…” he said, trying to defuse the situation with comedy.

It didn’t work. Cyli face-palmed and Pac just turned away.

“Hey, if you don’t like it, you don’t have to watch.” He told her, sitting down before taking a bite out of the box again.

She flinched at that. Why was he being so… hostile? She gasped as she spotted a clump of orange ghost slime on the box he was eating.

“Come on, Cyli.” Spiral said, offering her a slice. “Have some pizza and calm down. I mean, what’s the harm in it?”

Since she couldn’t think of an immediate answer and Pac was already in a bit of a sour mood… she just sighed.

“Fine…” She said, taking the slice and sitting down.

“There you go!” The teen beamed. “It’s all good, Cyli. Ghost attacks are down, free pizza. We deserve a break. Just relax and recharge. Team Pac for the win!”

“Team Pac?” Pac chuckled incredulously.

“Yeah. “Team Pac, Spiral, and Cyli” didn’t have the same ring to it.” Spiral said.

The three of them laughed.

“Okay…” Cyli said, giggling. “Even if we WERE gonna have a team name, which we DEFINITELY aren’t, you could just fix that problem by calling us team PSC.”

“Team Plasma Sucking Cannon?” Spiral questioned.

“No.” She laughed again. “It’s our initials.”

The boys stared at her for a moment before realization graced their features.

“OOOOOOOOH!” They said in unison.

They erupted into laughter again.

“Oh wow…!” Pac said, having flopped back on his back. “That is terrible AND awesome!”

They continued laughing for a while. Just for a moment, the tension was gone. But that didn’t mean the problem was...

…

“How much longer till I can attack!?” Betrayus demanded.

He switched to all the images of his ghosts falling asleep with boredom. This was taking much longer than he had anticipated.

“This is your Pac Vision reporter on the scene.” The red haired lady on the screen said. “Where reports of food thefts are coming in all over the city.

…

Inky, Blinky, Pinky, and Clyde had been stealing everything they could get their hands on. Pies, fast food, cake.

…

“There’s been no trace of the food fellins, no known motives, and no ransom notes. Just food disappearing EVERYWHERE.”

…

They even took to stealing from other people's dorms.

…

“No food is safe. Delivery trucks, vending machines, and even your favorite restaurant is not safe from these thieves. Anyone who has any information on the culprits, or a sandwich they can share, is urged to call your local Police Department.”

Cyli watched her wrist communicator in shock.

“This is getting serious…” 

she jumped on her hoverboard and zoomed off.

…

Back in the park where all of this started, Spiral layed queasily on the ground.

“Can’t… eat… any… Burp …”

So yeah, he was tapped out. Pac on the other hand… 

“More for me!” He said.

He was just about to eat another sandwich when a voice interrupted him.

“Hold it, Pac!” Cyli called. “Something is definitely not right here!”

Pac sighed as she hoverboarded over to him.

“Cyli, I appreciate the concern, but unless Betrayus sent me this food to poison me, which isn’t even possible by the way, I don’t see what the problem is.” He told her, throwing a sandwich into his mouth. “I mean, is it so weird to think that people are just doing something nice for me? I do save them after all.”

He reached over for a burger and downed that too as Cyli glared.

“Fine! You leave me no choice!”

 And then she flew off.

…

Stratos Spheros was being bombarded with calls about food thefts in his office.

“If this keeps up, soon Pacopolis will be completely out of food!” The reporter said.

Just then, the door opened and Cyli came running in.

“I’ve gotta speak to the president!” She said as the guards chased after her.

“Not now, Cylindria. Pacopolis is in serious trouble.” He told her.

“That’s why I’m here.” She said, coming up to his desk.

“You know who’s been stealing the food?” Spheros asked, standing up.

…

Pac hummed to himself as he continued to munch away at some cheesecake. He didn’t understand what Cyli’s problem was. Okay, sure, maybe eating a random picnic in the middle of the park wasn’t too smart (he actually felt a little bad about that one) but the rest of this stuff was obviously being given to him so what was the issue? He sighed. A thought that he’d been trying to ignore occurred to him…

Maybe she didn’t like that he ate so much...

He’d thought her seeing how big his appetite was early on in their friendship meant she was okay with it but… He went in for another bite. He thought she was different. He thought she was like Spiral who didn’t care and saw him for him. But… maybe he was wrong? For the first time in his life, his hunger was the tiniest of dull aches in the center of his stomach instead of a horrid sharp toothed beast gnawing at his insides like it normally was and she didn’t care… He sighed and looked down at the piece of cake in his hand. Actually… he wasn’t that hungry at all anymo-

“Stop in the name of Pac Manity!”

He jumped and turned around to see the President and a whole bunch of guards behind him.

“One more bite and, hero or not, my guards will have no choice but to blast you!”

“Wha…” Pac’s eyes darted around the scene in confusion. “I…”

Inky, Blinky, Pinky and Clyde heard this and turned to each other.

“Looks like that’s our cue to vamose.” Blinky winced.

They did just that as Spiral shook awake just in time to see what was happening.

“Pac my boy, if you eat anymore stolen food, I will be forced to lock you away.” The president informed the teen.

“Stolen?” Pac echoed.

His eyes went wide and the slice of cake fell out of his hand. He looked at Cyli who was on her hoverboard not too far away.

“Why… why di-” he turned back to the president. “I-I’m sorry. I swear, I didn’t know the food was stolen.”

The President shook his head.

“For your own good… and for the good of Pac World… you’ll be limited to three meals a day.”

Pac’s eyes widened, his skin paled, and he felt his hunger begin to claw at his stomach again.

“S-s-sir I-”

“This is not negotiable, my boy.”

Pac lowered his eyes to the floor.

“... Yes sir…”

…

Betrayus practically burst into flames with rage at this news… actually not almost, he did burst into flames.

“That incipit brother of mine has ruined my plans AGAIN!” He roared.

“Well, heh heh, that’s that!” Blinky chuckled.

“You can’t say we didn’t try.” Pinky agreed.

“Better luck next time.” Inky added as they began to fly off.

Unfortunately… Clyde had to open his big mouth.

“Se la vi! Too bad he can’t eat Netherworld food.”

The other three ghosts turned to glare at Clyde. The orange ghost realized what he did as Betrayus gasped.

“Why not?” The evil overlord asked.

“Remind me to slime you later.” Inky muttered at Clyde.

“Uh, not to get too personal, but have you smelled what’s considered food down here?” Pinky asked.

Betrayus glared.

“Just DO IT!”

They all ran out of the room as their boss breathed fire at them.

…

“I can’t believe we’re still doing this after we got him in so much trouble.” Clyde whimpered as he and his friends set off to find more food.

“Well you’ve only got yourself to blame for that, pal.” Inky sneered.

“L-look at it this way.” Blinky said. “If the Prez is stopping him from eating as much, the poor guy’s probably starving! We’re doing him a favor here!”

“That’s what you said last time and look where that ended us!” Pinky shouted.

“I didn’t say I like it!” Blinky yelled back. “But we don’t got any other choice! It’s either this or we get vaporized and have to spend the next few days regenerating! And in that time who knows what Betrayus might pull that we won't be here to warn Pac about! I dare any one of you to look me in the eye and tell me that disobeying the guy that ripped us from our families and turned us into child soldiers for his petty war is a viable option!!!”

They all shut up and stared at the ground. Blinky sighed. 

“Come on, I have an idea.”

…

“Oh Fuffy!” Pinky called, waving a bone in the air.

The poodle got to his feet in utter glee.

“Want a big juicy bone? Go fetch!” The pink ghost called before throwing the bone.

While the dog was distracted, Inky, Blinky, and Clyde grabbed his dog dish and ran off. Fluffy noticed and tried to run after them but was stopped by the chain around his neck.

“Ugh, P.U.” Inky groaned. “How are we gonna get Pac to eat this slop?” He asked as they placed the dish down.

It was literally a bunch of eyeballs covered in slime. What kind of slime? Who knew. Whose eyeballs? Double who knew.

“A little seasoning, some spices.” Clyde said, taking out just that. He sniffed the dish and gagged before turning the bottles upside down over it and beginning to shake. “A lot of seasoning. And an inordinate amount of spices…”

…

Pac was completely silent the next day after school. Well… as silent as he could be. Pretty much from the moment he woke up, there was a consistent stream of sound that would involuntarily rip itself from his insides. At first, the other students didn’t know where the sounds were coming from but between Pac’s blushing face and steadily decreasing ability to refrain from flinching whenever his stomach growled, they got the idea. And thus, the whispering started. Pac’s food ban had not been made known to the public, nor the fact that he had been responsible for the recent food snatching. The President, thankfully, thought the diet restrictions had been punishment enough. But Pac’s hopes of keeping said restrictions a secret came to an end after a run in with Sherry between periods.

“Hey, Pac!” She called, running up to him.

Pac grew a bit tense as she approached him but tried to force a smile.

“Hey.” He croaked, briefly breaking his silence to greet her.

Sherry’s own fake smile vanished as she watched him clutch his books against his belly. The action was followed by a small growling noise. Pac wouldn’t look at her after this. Until he heard a rustling sound followed by a sweet and juicy smell. His eyes snapped to the source of the odor, wide and frightened.

“Do you want shome shtrawberriesh?” She asked him, offering the little plastic baggie full of red fruit. “I’ve noticed you’ve been a little…”

She paused as Pac forcefully turned away and seemed to suddenly be walking faster.

“Can’t….” He told her. He said it quietly and in a shaky and small voice. But unbeknownst to him, EVERYONE heard it. Jaws were dropped, staring was done, and the room around them had gone significantly more quiet. But the gobsmacking news that Pac was REFUSING food was followed up by an even juicier statement. “… Not allowed…”

He practically ran off before Sherry had the opportunity to ask him what he meant. But let’s just say that by the end of second period, everyone knew that Pac was (for some reason) on some kind of diet. And to top it off, he was still suspended from the cafeteria so the three of them decided to eat out. The fact that he didn’t show up to the caf’ caused even more whispering by the time they got back. School came to an end and they decided to go out to try and take their minds off all of this. They were just wandering through the mall when they came across Skeebo holding a burger. He saw them almost immediately and smirked.

“Mmm, delicious juicy cheeseburger with extra pickles…” the bully taunted, practically waving the thing in Pac’s face. “That you can’t have!”

Skeebo burst into laughter and took a bite as Pac felt himself slipping. He groaned and ground his teeth together as he tried to tear his eyes away from it. He felt like there was a knife being twisted in his guts. He reached forwards without realizing, like a primal, despret, instinct took over while he was in too much pain to keep it at bay. Thank goodness for Spiral pulling him away. He didn’t know what he would have done if he stayed there much longer.

“Forget it, Pac.” Spiral said as they dragged him away from the scene.

“I’m starving and you don’t even care.” Pac slumped, clutching his growling stomach.

“Come on, Pac, you’re not really starving.” Cyli said, putting a hand on his shoulder. “You’re just used to eating all the time, that’s all.”

Something like that wouldn’t usually bother him so much but… seeing as he was was basically being eaten from the inside out by his own hunger… and it was kinda her fault… that statement made him REALLY MAD. He bared his teeth and violently shook her off.

“Don’t touch me.” He snapped.

His friends flinched away in surprise as he glared back at them. Moments later, he matched their shocked expressions and looked away in shame.

“Pac…?” Cyli tried to reach out again.

He made a run for it the moment her fingers touched his shoulder. Cyli and Spiral looked at each other in concern.

…

Pac didn’t even know where he was going. He just trudged through the empty park with his hands on his head. Why did he do that? He didn’t usually snap like that. What was wrong with-

Groooowl~

Pac tensed up and grabbed his stomach again. Oh… that.

“Pac?”

He spun around to see the only person he did NOT want to see at that moment. Cyli.

“Why did you run off like that?” She asked him.

He turned away from her with a sullen expression.

“I don’t know…” he mumbled, shoving his hands in his pockets.

“Yes you do. You just aren't te-”

“CAN YOU STOP TELLING ME HOW I FEEL!?” He shouted, spinning around with a glare.

She flinched back and Pac felt bad again.

“...Why are you acting like this?” She asked him.

“Why am I acting like this?” He echoed. He couldn’t handle it anymore. He had to get these thoughts out of his head. “Hm, let’s see. I’ve been issued a punishment that stops me from being able to eat enough to not be in agony all the time, my childhood bully is using it to literally torcher me, and the girl who's responsible for it all WON’T LEAVE ME ALONE!”

Cyli gave him a disbelieving look.

“You’re blaming me for this?” She questioned, raising her voice as well.

“You ratted me out for something I didn’t even know I was doing, Cyli! Of course it’s your fault!”

“So it’s my fault you lack the basic levels of self restraint necessary to not eat everything you lay eyes on!? I tried to tell you something was wrong but you wouldn’t listen!”

“That’s different and you know it!”

“Do I!? I was done arguing with you, Pac! Maybe now you’ll think twice before doing something like this again!”

“I! DIDN’T! KNOW! IT! WAS! HAPPENING!!!”

Cyli stumbled back as he practically roared at her. His eyes were wide, teeth bared… he looked more like a wild animal than her friend.

“YOU COULD HAVE TOLD ME THE FOOD WAS STOLEN BUT INSTEAD YOU RAN OFF TO TELL THE PRESIDENT BECAUSE YOU DIDN’T WANT ME TO LISTEN, YOU WANTED TO SEE ME GET PUNISHED!”

Her eyes widened.

“Pac, no-”

“DON’T TELL ME I’M WRONG! IF YOU WANTED TO TELL ME YOU COULD HAVE AND I WOULD HAVE BELIEVED YOU BUT YOU DIDN’T EVEN BOTHER!! I WOULD HAVE HELPED YOU BRING IT BACK EVEN THOUGH IT BROUGHT ME THE CLOSEST TO NOT BEING HUNGRY THAT I’VE EVER GOTTEN TO EXPERIENCE IN MY LIFE! YOU WANNA KNOW WHY I CAN’T CONTROL MYSELF!? BECAUSE. IT. HURTS. LIKE. HELL!! IT HURTS ALL THE TIME AND THE ONLY RELIEF I EVER GET IS EATING AND YOU TOOK THAT AWAY FROM ME!!”

“Pac.” Cyli croaked, tears filling her eyes as her back pressed against a tree. “Stop… you’re scaring me…”

But the rage in his eyes didn’t go away.

“THEN LEAVE!”

Cyli’s tear filled eyes widened.

“LEAVE IF YOU’RE SO SCARED! LEAVE IF YOU DON’T LIKE HOW I AM! WHY’D YOU BOTHER STICKING AROUND IF YOU DON’T LIKE ME!?”

“I do like you…” Cyli insisted, voice quivering as a sob rolled past her lips.

And just like that, the rage was gone. His body softened as did his expression.

“I’ve always liked you for you…” she sniffled.

His eyes widened as big globs of tears silently rolled down her face.

“Pac… I’m so sorry I made you feel like I didn’t care…”

His eyes filled with tears too… he stumbled backwards with, pure, unadulterated, shame shining in his deep blue eyes. His mouth opened and closed over and over.

“Pac…” she said, reaching towards him.

Growl~

And that was the last sound they heard before Pac took off again. Cyli stood there, watching him go. Her mind told her body to move, to go after him… but she couldn’t. She stayed there, frozen, until Spiral found her.

“Cyli?” The red teen questioned when he saw her.

She turned around, revealing her tear stained face. He immediately hugged her, murmuring soft “It’s okay”s and other comforting words into her ear. Once she’d calmed down enough to speak he simply asked.

“Where’s Pac?”

…

It didn’t take long for Cyli to describe what had happened. Spiral was… surprised but not nearly as much as she thought he would be.

“Oh man, I should have been there…” Spiral sighed.

“... Maybe it was for the best you weren’t…” Cyli said.

He looked at her in shock.

“What?”

“I think… I think we needed to have that conversation…” She explained. “Not JUST that conversation, we definitely need to talk again, but I learned some things I needed to know…” she turned to look her best friend in the eye. “Spiral… does Pac hide things from me… intentionally?”

Spiral stared at her for a moment before sighing.

“If I’m being honest… probably.” He admitted. “There’s… there’s a lot more to Pac than just “a guy who eats a lot”. He’s a lot more different from everyone else then he’d like to be and his body works in a really different way. I don’t know the details (Pac probably doesn’t either) but… he’s basically another species he’s so different… and he’s super ashamed of it.”

Cyli listened intently, pushing him to continue.

“When we first met, it took him WEEKS to start telling me that his skin color wasn’t the only weird thing about him. And he was TERRIFIED when he finally did. The poor guy thought I was gonna ask to be given a new roommate or SOMETHING because he almost cried when I told him it was majorly awesome.”

Cyli cracked a sad smile at that.

“Look… Pac’s a good guy.” Spiral said. “You already know that. He didn’t mean to yell at you like that and he’s probably beating himself up about it as we speak. I’m not saying it was okay and we definitely need to talk to him about it but… please don’t hold it against him. He really likes you. It would break his heart if you left…”

Cyli grabbed Spiral’s hand almost immediately.

“I’m not going anywhere.” She told him. “And I think I need to make sure Pac knows that too…”

…

Pac didn’t stop running till he reached the school and at that point he was so exhausted that he collapsed against a bench with a hand over his chest. Hot tears spilled down his face as he stared at the floor, breathing heavily. Maybe if he stared at the ground long enough it would swallow him up and never let go. He hoped so. His hand came to clutch his stomach again as it growled.

“Shut up…” He whimpered before clutching his head. “Shut up, shut up, shut up…”

Beep beep!

He jumped at the sound of his watch and slapped a hand over it. Cyli. No. Not now. Not after that.

“Pac?” Her voice sounded.

She didn’t sound like she was crying anymore. That was good at least.

“Pac, are you there? Please answer.” She begged.

Pac mustered up the courage to do so and spoke.

“... I’m here.” He croaked.

“Oh thank goodness.” She sighed. “Listen, we need to talk, where are you?”

He didn’t answer.

“Pac?” She called again.

“I can’t…” he whimpered.

“What?”

“I… I just can’t see you right now…”

“Pac, I’m not mad. I just want to make sure you’re okay.”

But why? He wanted to ask. Why did she care?

“... I need to be away from you for a while…” Pac told her. “Away from everything.”

“Pac… please… let’s talk.”

He shook his head, despite the fact that she couldn’t see him.

“I can’t. Tell Spiral I’ll be back at the dorm in an hour or so.”

“Pac, wait-”

He hung up and looked towards the maze.

“Might as well lose myself in here…” Pac said, as he entered it. “Where there’s no food around to tempt me…”

…

He didn’t know how long he had been walking. 20 minutes? 30? Who knew? All he knew was that he’d probably break his “be back in an hour” promise. Hopefully they’d understand and give him at least another two but… 

his hands balled into fists as his stomach growled again before going limp at his sides in defeat. He knew hunger was painful. He knewit put him in a sour mood… but he never thought it would make him do something like THAT. Cyli’s terrified, tear stained, face flashed in his mind. The way she looked at him… She genuinely thought he was about to hurt her…. He sniffed and wiped his nose on his sleeve as he rounded a corner.

“SURPRISE!” 

Pac jumped as four brightly coloured ghosts came up to him carrying a pile of slop with candles sticking out of it.

“Happy birthday!” Inky, Blinky, Pinky, and Clyde cheered in unison.

“Uh…” Pac said. Wow, this was a drastic mood change. “It’s not my birthday…”

“It’s not?” Pinky questioned. “Oh, silly us.”

“Yeah, then we’ll just have to throw away this hideous-” Inky was cut off by Blinky headbutting him.

“He means DELICIOUS treat we made just for you.” Blinky finished.

Pac picked up on the weirdness and chuckled, thinking they heard about his food ban and were trying to make him feel better.

“Thanks… but I’m not hungry…” He half lied.

It was a… complicated lie because while he definitely WAS hungry… he didn’t WANT to eat… he didn’t deserve to…

The ghosts jumped in shock at this.

“Wha?” Clyde hummed.

“Yes you are.” Inky said. “You’re always hungry.”

Pac sighed and looked away from them.

“Don’t I know it…” he mumbled.

Things fell silent. The ghosts set the bowl down and floated over to him in concern.

“Pac…” Pinky gentilly called to him. “... Is everything alright?”

His body started shaking immediately after that question. The ghosts all stared in shock as the boy started sobbing.

“No…” He whimpered.

The yellow teen buried his face in his hands and curled up into a ball on the floor. Loud choking sobs rolled out of him, causing tremors throughout his whole body.

“Hey, hey, hey! It’s okay, buddy!” Blinky fretted, floating over to him too.

“U-uh, don’t cry…” Inky said awkwardly.

“Tell us what’s wrong, Pac.” Clyde said. “I’m sure it’s not as bad as it seems.”

He took a moment to compose himself enough to talk and then he told them what happened. How he accidentally ate the city’s food supply, his argument with Cyli… all of it.

“I just don’t know how I can face anyone again after what I did…” He croaked.

“Oh, don’t say that, Pacums.” Pinky cooed, hugging him around the neck.

“But it’s true.” He said, clutching her to his body. “I almost hurt Cyli just because I was mad!”

Groooooowl~

He winced as hunger stabbed him in the gut again.

“And hungry…” Inky finished for him.

“Have something to eat, Pac.” Clyde said, pushing the bow towards him again. “You’ll feel better once you get something inside you.”

He sniffed and pushed the bowl away.

“Thank you all for caring so much… but no.” Pac told them. “The President said I can’t eat between meals…”

“Not even stuff from the netherworld?” Pinky reasoned.

Pac actually thought about that for a second. Technically the food ban was just there to make sure food stores had time to pick up again without him draining them so… 

“President Spheros didn’t say anything about… Nether World food…” 

“See, bud? It’s all good.” Blinky told him. “Just eat up. Your hunger’s makin’ ya all moody so food should fix it, right?”

“I mean… I guess?”

He looked around at their encouraging faces. Pac hesitated before dipping his finger in the bowl and licking it. He ran his tongue along the inside of his mouth as his face twisted in confusion.

“It’s… different.” Pac tried.

It wasn’t bad but… he just couldn't figure out what he was tasting. It was kinda… salty? Maybe a little smokey… and the orbs burst in his mouth like really juicy berries.

“Yup, there’s… nothing like it.” Blinky said, nervously. “Help yourself.”

Pac took a few more puzzled tastes before his hunger kicked in again. He placed his face right in the goop and just inhaled, sucking it all down. He felt the terrible pain in his gut begin to numb as the food pooled into his stomach. He sighed as he came back up and licked his face for any left over gunk.

“There ya go, pal.” Inky said, patting him on the back.

“Feel better?” Clyde asked.

“A little…” Pac admitted.

“Do you want any more?” Pinky asked.

“Do you HAVE more?”

“Sure do!” Blinky popped up. “You just stay here with Clyde while we grab some more grub.”

“Huh??” The orange ghost jumped. “I thought we were all getting more?” He whispered.

“We can’t just leave him here alone, the guy’s a wreck.” The red ghost whispered back. “We’ll take turns staying with him while the others go get more food. Just keep him talking. He needs to let all of it out.”

The ghost gang shared a look and nodded. Operation cheer up Pac was a go.

…

Inky, Blinky, Pinky, and Clyde dashed all over the Netherworld in search of anything they could feed to their friend. They weren’t even thinking about Betrayus’s orders anymore, they were just determined to provide Pac with his comfort food. They alternated between Clyde, then Inky, then Blinky, then Pinky for who would stay with Pac so the food flow was pretty consistent with the comfort he received as well. They tried to offer Pac words of encouragement and other kind thoughts but mostly they just sat there being his comfort object and listened to him vent. The things he hated. The way people treated him. How guilty all his eating made him feel. How awful it was to be so desperately hungry all the time… and how much it sucked that no one would ever understand. It wasn’t exactly fun for anyone involved but they didn’t care. Pac needed them and they were gonna be there for him. 

Steaks of strange beats, odd plants, worms, slug dogs, various bugs. If it was even remotely edible, they fed it to their yellow friend. He seemed to become slightly less miserable with each bite… but they failed to notice how he was slowly becoming more sluggish as well…

They didn’t realize how long they had been sitting there with Pac until his wrist band beeped. He checked the caller with a solemn expression.

“It’s them…” Pac practically whimpered.

“Hey bud, if you don’t wanna talk to them right now you don’t gotta.” Inky told him.

Pac shook his head before taking another bite. 

“No, they're probably worried. I kinda left… in a hurry.”

He pressed play on the call but didn’t turn on the screen. He couldn’t stand to face them right now, even virtually.

“Pac?” Spiral’s voice called.

“Hey, guys.” He replied.

“Oh, thank goodness!” He heard Cyli call.

He winced at that.

“Yeah, I’m okay.” He told them. “I just… needed some me time.”

“That’s totally fine, dude.” Spiral told them.

“We just wanted to call to see how you're holding up.” Cyli added.

“I already told you I’m fine.” He said, opening his mouth so Clyde could pour in a bowl of cooked worms.

“Are you sure…?” Cyli asked, gentilly. “You sound funny.”

He took a moment to chew before answering.

“Yes.” He insisted. “Just give me a few more hours.” He then proceeded to slurp up some Netherworld drink through a straw. “Gotta go.”

He hung up.

…

“Did he sound like he was eating?” Cyli asked Spiral once the call ended.

“Hard to tell. He’s always eating.” He replied.

“I don’t like this…” Cyli said. “We gotta find him. Fast.”

…

And they did so VERY fast. Only 10 minutes later, they rounded a corner in the maze and were greeted by the sight of Pac being hugged in Clydes arms as Inky, Blinky, and Pinky continued to throw food into his mouth.

“Aha!” Cyli shouted as she and Spiral jumped out. “I should have guessed you were behind this! Question is, why?”

The ghosts immediately jumped between Pac and his best friends as the boy buried his face in another bowl to avoid looking at them.

“And what is that… yuck?” Spiral asked.

“Back off, roundy!” Pinky shouted, getting in her face. “We were just trying to make him feel better!”

“Which is more than you’ve been doing!” Blinky agreed.

“And if we just so happen to carry out Betrayus’s orders while we're at it that's just a bonus.” Inky said.

“Betrayus?!” Cyli echoed.

“Ugh, nice going.” Pinky glared back at the blue ghost. “Why don’t you just point out the secret entrance while you're at it?”

“Relax, we got this.” Blinky told them. “Lord B just wanted us to give Pac a little nosh.” He flew up to them. “Not like the Lemon guy’s actually ever gonna get full.”

The group of friends all broke into actual laughter at that, saying things like “yeah” and “true that”... at least until a long queasy moan cut through all the chatter.

“Uuooouuoooghhhh…” 

They all turned to see Pac flat on his back, yellow skin painted with a sickly grey tint, and hands clutching at his stomach.

“... Guess we were wrong.” Blinky said in horror.

“Our bad…” Pinky said.

“And I think things are about to get way worse.” Clyde said from his position next to Pac.

… 

Back in the Netherrealm, Betrayus was beside himself with joy.

“I did it! He’s full! HE’S FULL!” The ghost cheered. “ATTAAAAAACK!”

He flew all the way over to where his ghost army was lying asleep.

“Wake up and attack!!!” He ordered.

The ghosts all shook awake and did just that.

…

The president watched through his monitor as ghosts swarmed his city.

“Where is Pac Man!?” President Spheros called in panic. “Why isn’t he stopping them?!”

…

“Come on, Pac-buddy. Just one little power berry and you’ll be good to go.” Spiral begged.

Pac looked at the small yellow orb and immediately looked away, looking like he was gonna throw up.

“Nuh uh…” He shook his head. “Oooooooooouuuhhh…”

Spiral tried to manually insert it into Pac's mouth but he kept spitting it back out. They all looked at each other in concern. Clearly that wasn’t going to work. They had to find some way to clear out space in his stomach before he could eat anything else.

…

Ghosts were everywhere, sliming everything and everyONE.

“Wait! I’m a reporter!” The mint woman begged. “Not the hair!”

The tentacle ghost proceeded to slime her in the face instead.

“Thank you…” She pouted. “For the love of Pac World, does anyone know what’s happened to Pac Man!!??”

… 

“Tell him I’m sorry.” The president spoke to Cyli over his phone. “ Tell him we’re all sorry! Tell him he can eat anything he wants!”

“We’re working on it Mr. President.” Cyli told him before nervously turning back to her nauseated friend.

“Just one little sip for Pinky.” Pinky said, holding a cup of fizzy pop. “Pleeeeaaase?”

Pac just lightly pushed her away with another moan.

“We don’t have time for this!” Spiral said, frantically. He leaned over his best friend so that he could make eye contact with the stuffed teen. “Pac, you’ve gotta clear out your stomach on your own.”

Pac only turned his head away from him and closed his eyes.

“I’ve seen you do it, Pac. I know you can.” Spiral pushed.

“He can throw up on command?” Cyli questioned.

“No, but he can burp really loudly and empty out his whole stomach.” Spiral explained. “I don’t know how it works but it’s probably his body’s way of making sure he can keep eating.”

“If that’s how his body stops itself from getting full, why hasn’t it happened yet?” Cyli asked, eyes scanning over Pac’s quivering form.

Clyde’s eyes popped open in realization.

“Because he doesn’t want it to!” Clyde said.

Cyli and Spiral turned to him in confusion.

“Huh?”

The other ghosts lit up too.

“Of course! He’s stopping his body from doing it so he doesn’t get hungry!” Inky said.

“Why would he do that?” Cyli asked. “I’d sure rather be hungry than so stuffed I couldn’t move.”

“It’s not that he doesn’t WANT to be hungry.” Blinky explained. “It’s that he’s AFRAID to be.”

“Because of what happened with YOU.” Pinky told her.

Cyli’s eyes lit up in realization. She turned to look at Pac. An expression of utter heartbreak spread across her features.

“You really think so?” Spiral asked.

“Trust me. We just listened to him vent for the past four hours.” Inky told them. “Dude’s got some serious baggage.”

While this went on in the background, Cyli kneeled down next to her quivering friend.

“Pac…” She whispered, cupping his cheek. “... Pac, look at me…”

He whimpered and squeezed his eyes tighter.

“Please stop hiding from me…” She begged. “I need to see you… Please… let me see you…”

His body continued to shake, physical and emotional pain racking his body, but he allowed her to slowly turn his face to look at her and cracked his eyes open.

“It wasn’t your fault.” She told him, thumb brushing over his soft cheek. “I will never blame you for what happened because it wasn’t your fault. You were right. I didn’t try hard enough to tell you what was happening and I’m so sorry.”

“Cyli…” He croaked, his voice still laced with nausea.

“We’re gonna talk about this later…” She told him. “But right now you need to get rid of this—” her hand cupped his belly. “—so you can go save Pacopolis.”

He squeezed his eyes shut again and whimpered.

“... I’m scared…” He mumbled.

“I know…” she cooed. “But it’s gonna be okay, Pac. You’re gonna get rid of all this, take a power berry, and go do what you do best…”

“Eat..?” He asked, self deprecatingly.

“No…” She said, taking his hand. “Help people.”

A short silence washed over them. The only noises were the gurgles of his upset stomach for a few moments. Pac took a deep breath and suddenly tried to push himself up but he was weighed down by the weight of his middle and the stabbing pain that moving caused.

“Help me up…” his voice strained.

Spiral immediately walked over to do just that, hooking an arm around his back to pull him to his feet. Clyde came over to act as an extra brace for Pac as he started making unsettling gagging sounds. His body seized up and his stomach muscles clenched but it wouldn’t come. He pounded on his chest one, two, three times and a tiny little burp popped out of him.

Urp.

“Come on, Pac.” Inky said.

He heaved again as Clyde patted him on the back and started making some very weird faces.

“You can do it.” Cyli told him.

Pat pat pat

“Let ‘er rip!” Spiral called.

Once more pat and-

BUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUURP!

Pac’s body went limp right after the booming sound. The belch was so powerful that the ghosts had to duck for cover to avoid being blown away.

“Uh, you might wanna cover your mouth for those, pal.” Blinky joked.

“Pac, how do you feel?” Cyli asked, cupping his face again.

His big stretchy tongue dipped out of his mouth to lick the slobber off his lips and he broke the smallest of smiles.

“... Hungry.” He told her.

…

Pac was back on the scene as fast as lightning. Ghosts were eaten left and right. He jumped from building to building, propelling himself forward into the slimy spectres. 

Chomp! Chomp! Chomp!

Ghost after ghost went down the hatch and he even stopped his spook hunt to wrestle a dragon and trick it into burning a bunch of ghosts. He ate those too. ghosts that had possessed Pac Worlders fled but were inevitably caught by him. Pac turned to look at the remaining ghosts with an uneasy look. While he wasn’t ready to explode anymore, his stomach was still sore and the moving ghosts weren’t helping all that much. Also slime wasn’t too easy on the stomach. Regardless, he downed a titanium berry and called out once again:

“Full steam ahead!”

Chomp! Chomp! Chomp!

And last one. Betrayus watched as he punched a cyclops ghost to the ground.

…

“Could this day possibly get any worse!?” The ghost lord asked.

“May I remind you it’s Fluffy’s feeding time?” Butler said.

Betrayus yelped as the dog lunged at him.

“Not me you mangy mutt! Him!” The ghost cried as the dog chased him.

…

“Pac Man! Where were you!?” The civilians asked as he hovered overhead.

“Sorry I’m late.” He scratched the back of his head. “I had some… issues I needed to clear up.” He said, rubbing his stomach as it gave an uncomfortable lurch. “Speaking of which…”

He flew back off to the maze before anything else could be questioned.

…

“Yes sir, Mr President.” Cyli grinned.

“Pac World is saved, thanks to Pac Man.” The President praised. “Please send him my heartfelt appreciation.”

“I’ll give him the message.” Cyli said before hanging up. She turned to Pac. “As soon as he’s done.”

Pac was hunched over with his hands on his stomach as he belched out each individual pair of eyeballs. 

“Poor Glooky got it again…” Blinky said as he and his friends watched the eyeballs go by from hiding.

Pac braced himself on his knees for a moment once the last pair was out of his stomach. He sighed before turning to his blue friend.

“Cyli…” He said, looking over to her in concern.

“Way ahead of you, Pac.” She said, grabbing his arm to make sure he wouldn’t run off. “You guys can get going. Me and Pac are gonna have a little chat.”

“No problem.” Spiral said.

“We better get back to the Netherrealm anyway.” Blinky said.

“But ONLY talking. ALRIGHT!?” Pinky said, pointing at them menacingly.

Cyli rolled her eyes and started leading her yellow friend away.

“Yeah, yeah, see you guys later.” She threw over her shoulder.

The two of them disappeared from sight. Not soon after, the ghost gang tried to do the same… but they didn’t get very far.

“FREEZE.” Spiral ordered.

They did. The only thing moving even a little bit was the light that glowed off of them, but even that seemed to dim at the teenager’s instruction. Slowly, they turned back around, faces indicating that they knew full well what they were in for.

Spiral’s expression was stern but neutral as he turned around to address them. He allowed the silence to suffocate them for a moment… and then he began.

“… Thank you for looking after Pac.” 

Well now they were REALLY frozen. Only Inky managed to squeak out a weak ‘huh?’.

“He was in a place where he wasn’t gonna let us help no matter how much we told him we were here for him.” Spiral continued. “But you found him, you talked him down, and then you did what you thought was gonna help him the most… and in doing so you almost handed Pacopolis over to Betrayus’s army by incapacitating it’s primary protector but you win some you lose some, right?”

They couldn’t help but crack a few giggles. Spiral smiled at them.

“Pac is a very reserved person when it comes to his own issues. He doesn’t “vent for four hours” in front of just anyone. It’s good that he trusts you like that…” He frowned. “Now on the topic of trust.”

Their smiles dropped too and they groaned in unison.

“Here it comes.” Blinky slumped.

“How could you guys?” Spiral said. His voice wasn’t accusatory or angry it was just… confused. “You told Pac that the reason you were sticking around the Netherworld was to help him out. Then you go and pull this. What gives?”

“Look.” Pinky sighed. “If we knew there was a way for Pac to actually get full-”

“I honestly still can’t believe it.” Blinky added.

“We would have told you what was going on.” She continued. “We thought we were doing something nice for him. You’ve seen how bad his hunger gets. We thought we were helping.”

“I call bullshit seeing as you said yourself that you continued to feed him AFTER you saw how badly he got punished for it.”

“B-Betrayus would have been on to us if we refused!” Blinky insisted.

“Yeah, we ain’t much help as spies if we get vaporized, are we?” Inky said.

“I’m not saying you should have disobeyed him!” Spiral stated. “I just don’t understand why you didn’t tell us! Guys, we’re your friends! We don’t want you getting hurt while you’re spying for us! But why did you have to know how bad it would get for you to confide in us? To confide in Pac? You know he would have worked out a plan with you. Anything to keep you safe, hell, he’d even pull you early if he really thought you were in danger.”

The ghosts tensed.

“Oh hell to the no!” Inky said. “You need us around!”

“Yeah!” Clyde said. “If THIS hair-brained scheme of theirs almost actually worked, who knows what might take you out if we aren’t here to warn you!”

Spiral looked at them in awe… and then sighed, a small smile gracing his lips.

“Damn it, now there’s five of them…” he muttered.

The ghosts seemed confused.

“Five what?” Pinky asked.

“Five needlessly selfless numbskulls that I gotta babysit.” He smirked at them.

They flinched back in unison before erupting into a chorus of protest. Spiral cackled.

“All right you four, you can go home now.” He told them. “But seriously. Next time Betrayus puts you in a tight spot, just TELL US. We’ll work something out. Pretend that your sabotage is working without putting anyone in danger. Talk to us. Okay?”

The ghost gang still looked huffy at being told they needed a babysitter but agreed.

…

The two of them walked in silence for a while before Pac finally broke it.

“Okay…” He sighed. “First of all… I’m SO sorry for yelling at you like that.” Pac told her.

“I already told you, it’s fine.” She replied. “It needed to happen. I’m glad I know now.”

“Yeah but… I wish it didn’t happen THAT WAY, I…” He looked away. “That wasn’t how I wanted you to find out…”

Cyli took his hand again and squeezed it.

“Let’s just… move on from that part, alright?” She said. “Let’s let bygones be bygones and get to the REAL thing that’s been bugging you.”

Pac sighed again.

“Look, Cyli.” He started. “I probably should have told you from the beginning but… being my friend doesn’t just mean dealing with ghosts. It also means… dealing with me… And I’m kind of a handful…”

“Aren’t we all?” Cyli cracked a smile.

“Not just like that. I… I’m different.” He admitted. “I don’t even fully know what “dealing with me” means. I could wake up tomorrow having suddenly transformed into a ten foot monster with purple polka dots and honestly wouldn’t be all that surprised.”

Cyli couldn’t help but chuckle at that.

“So…” Pac said. “I guess what I’m saying is… If you wanna walk away now, you can and… and I won't hold it against you.”

Cyli’s eyes widened.

“Excuse me?” She asked. She sounded… offended almost. “What kind of person do you take me for!? You think I’m gonna leave just because you get hangry sometimes!?”

Pac flinched back in surprise at her outburst.

“No! I-I don’t think you’re…! I mean…!” He paused and gave her a confused look. “Hangry?”

“Hungry and angry.” She clarified.

“Oh. Well… th-that’s not what I meant! I-I’m just saying it would be wrong to make you feel like you're obligated to deal with me! I already told you I’m a handful right? I eat everything I see and in insane amounts, I eat things that aren’t edible, I eat slime all the time, my table manners are basically nonexistent and so are my social skills, I-”

“And I accept all of it.” She told him, placing a hand on his shoulder. “Whatever you go through in the future, I wanna be with you for it. I don’t need you to hide any part of yourself from me, Pac. I’m not going anywhere.”

Pac could only stare as tears started to pool in the corners of his eyes.

“Aw, come here.” Cyli said, pulling him in for a hug.

Pac wrapped his arms around her firmly and buried his face in her shoulder. She patted his back affectionately as he took in her words.

“I’m not worth all this…” he whimpered.

“Yes you are.” She told him, hugging him firmly. “And if I hear you say that ever again, I’m gonna kick your butt.”

He tearfully chuckled and pulled away, wiping his eyes.

“Is there anything you wanted to tell me then?” Cyli asked. “Anything else you want me to know?”

Pac thought for a moment.

“Well… there is something I’ve been wanting to use…” he admitted. “But I wasn’t sure how you’d react.”

“Well let’s see it.”

“Promise you won't freak out?”

“Promise.”

Pac inhaled deeply and parted his lips just enough… to let some sort of pink tube thing slip out. Cyli wasn’t exactly sure what she was looking at. It was long and ringed like an accordion like it was made to stretch and retract to somewhere deep in his throat. Maybe that was why she’d never seen it before?

“What IS that?” Cyli asked, poking it curiously.

It retracted back into his mouth so he could say:

“It’s my tongue.”

She gave him a dull look.

“Pac, I’ve seen what your tongue looks like and that ain’t it.”

“I know but…” He paused, trying to look for a way to explain it. “I’m not actually sure WHAT it is to be honest. One day it sorta just showed up. But it’s attached to me and I can swallow things through it so I’m pretty sure it’s connected to my esophagus. And when it’s around my tongue isn’t so… I just took to calling it my tube tongue.”

“Wow…” She chuckled in awe. “That is super weird AND totally awesome.”

He cracked a smile and chuckled with her. And that was all he could have ever asked for. To be able to laugh about all his quirks and oddities. To be accepted enough that he was okay with not being normal. 

“Come on.” Cyli said. “Let me make all of this up to you.” She broke into a cheeky smile. “How about we get something to eat?”

Chapter Text

Spheros sighed. But it wasn’t his usual sigh. Usually when the man sighed it was because he was tired. Too much work, sleepless nights, gruelling battles. Or because he was exasperated. Another one of Betrsyus’s threats, another attack to clean up after, useless bodyguards. But this time it was neither. This time he sighed because he was happy. He sighed because he watched the yellow boy that had fumbled his way into his life gleefully fly through the city, eating ghosts, fighting monsters, and laughing with his friends. He loved watching that boy on the news. It made his day that much brighter every single time he saw it. And it made his life so much brighter just to have him in it. Finally.

“… Um…”

President Spheros had not been expecting a visit from Pac that day. The boy didn’t usually visit him on his own. So when he arrived in his office in the afternoon of an ordinary Wednesday, Spheros was both delighted and concerned.

“Pac Man!” He beamed from his desk. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

The man’s voice seemed to ease the tension that encased his body a tad. For some reason the boy looked dreadfully nervous.

“I hope I’m not interrupting something…”

“Not at all.” The president said, pushing his papers to the side and standing up to greet him. “Is something the matter?”

“Nah.” Pac said, finally managing to inch a bit closer to his desk. “It’s nothing like… world threatening or whatever. I just…” he raised a hand to the back of his neck and looked down at the floor, blushing. “I-I know it’s a little… sudden… and it’s been like a month since then and I’m not even sure why I’m bringing it up now but… Back before the tree of life was stolen, you said you… had stuff to tell me… about my parents?”

At the mention of the young boy’s mother and father, Stratos was suddenly bombarded with memories. Some good, some bad, and all of them lined with a bittersweet yearning that had clouded any and all thoughts that ever entered his mind containing the faces of his two lost friends. And he was suddenly hyper aware of all the similarities between the two of them and their son. 

“… Of course.” He managed to croak out. “Of course of course, I can’t believe I’d forgotten.”

“I-It doesn't have to be now.” Pac stuttered. “I-If you’re too b-busy then-”

“No no no, not at all.” He said, beginning to walk around his desk. “Though I have to warn you… the things I wanted you to know… they aren’t great secrets or groundbreaking truths… they’re just… stories. Stories about… our time together-”

“I like stories!” Pac blurted.

It seemed that in his leap at any and all information surrounding his parents, he’d forgotten to be nervous anymore as he stared at the man with wide, glowing, eyes. Stratos smiled at the familiarity of this expression and offered him a seat.

Sir Cumfrence had stated that Pac was the spitting image of his father at his age and, while Stratos agreed, he would argue that that statement only applied in terms of mannerisms. Physically, Pac was practically Sunny’s clone. The round face, chubby cheeks, wide eyes and round button nose. The only thing Pac had inherited physically from his father was his eye color and his smile. Stratos didn’t know how it was possible for so much resemblance to exist in someone's mouth but it was uncanny. The way it sat wide on his face when resting, stretched to his ears when smiling, and got lopsided and crooked when he grinned. His mannerisms, as previously stated, also had Zac written all over them. Sunny somehow managed to maintain a cool and calming presence most of the time. She didn’t take up space and preferred to fade into the background a bit. She’d been a bit… ashamed was not the right word but… intimidated by her own yellowness when she was younger and caved in on herself in response. But Zac was never so timid. He was big and loud and proudly fumbled his way through life. When Sunny would nervously slouch he would BLUSH and twist his mouth into a crooked grin. He’d fidget and emote and yelp and laugh and Spheros told all of this to Pac as he recounted the many years he’d spent with them.

The boy’s eyes glistened as he listened. 

“… Do you know where the blond hair came from then?” He asked, attempting to de charge the emotional moment with comedy as he ran a hand through his pale yellow locks. Spheros chuckled.

“I’m afraid not.” He admitted. “I…I never really knew either of their parents… Sunny and Spheria denounced their parents for the things they put Sunny through. They weren’t yellow themselves and thought she was either the product of an affair or a mutation. And Zac… well he lost his when the other yellow ones were wiped out. He practically lived with me after that. We went to school together, we studied together, played together, fought together… he… he was my brother in all but blood.”

That seemed to be it for Pac. He closed his eyes tight, smile wide but eyebrows knitted together. He wasn’t crying but he looked close. His voice was small and wobbled violently as he spoke next. He coughed before beginning.

“On an unrelated note…” he sniffed a bit. “Would you be… free to, like… come over to my class some time and just… talk about stuff? I thought maybe it would be nice for my classmates to get to talk to you since… well since they’re kinda in the middle of a lot of ghost stuff because of me.”

Spheros placed a hand on the boy’s shoulder.

“I would love to.”

…

The very next day, the class was buzzing with excitement. But none more than Pac. The yellow boy only barely heard his classmates proclaiming how amazing he was.

“This is so great, Pac!” A girl in a high ponytail proclaimed.

“You rock!” A green kid with his helmet over his eyes stated.

This kind of up close praise from his peers (though something he was still getting accustomed to) would have normally caused him at least to flush and crack a nervous smile. But this time he couldn’t care less. He continued to wait by the window with the rest of his class, patiently expecting a sleek black limousine to appear at any moment.

“Still can’t believe Pac asked the president to come talk to the class.” Cyli said to Spiral. “And he said “yes”!”

“Big deal.” Came a muttered grunt from the other side of the room.

Skeebo, as one would suspect, was the only one not excited at the proposition of a chat with the city’s leader. Instead of huddling against the glass with everyone else, the bully remained seated at his desk, looking annoyed.

Cyli rolled her eyes at his unwarranted addition and looked back to the window from her place, sitting on her desk. Spiral didn’t let it slide as much.

“Uh, YEAH.” The tall teen said, leaning against the bully’s desk. “It IS a big deal, Skeebs. Pac and the President are like THIS.”

He demonstrated their closeness by crossing his fingers together. Just then, there was a ringing through the room. Ms Globular pressed a few buttons on her podium and a large image appeared on the whiteboard.

“Oh dear…” she gasped, calling her student’s attention. “Oh, MY! It’s the president!”

The class turned to the image of the green man in his limo. Pac beamed at the sight.

“Hi, Mr. President!”

“Hello, Pac.” The man greeted with a small smile before beginning to look around in concern. “I may be a tad late…”

“No problem, sir.”

“Actually… there is.”

Ghosts were flying all around the limo. The driver could barely see where he was going.

“A rather large problem!” The man stated.

The ghosts began cackling and whipped around the vehicle fast enough that it lifted it off the street via ghost tornado.

Pac’s heart dropped as he heard the man scream.

…

His pulse was pounding in his ears as he raced through the school. He was only vaguely aware that Cyli and Spiral were at his sides as he burst through the front doors just in time to see the ghost tornado bringing the limbo towards the school.

“Correct me if I’m wrong, but the ghost-nado is giving me the impression that they’re trying to steal the president.” Cyli stated.

“So not cool…” Spiral humphed.

The two of them, despite their pokes at the absurdity of this situation, still looked very concerned. Pac, on the other hand, was borderline panicking. Wrenching his berry dispenser from his pocket, he began frantically searching for one berry in particular.

“Come on, come on…” He muttered as he spilled them into his palm. “bouncing berry, flying berry, is that pocket lint? I really need to have a sorting mechanism installed on this thing.” He grunted, swatting aside a shiny orange and bright yellow berry. “Yes! Minty ice!”

He picked up the cool blue berry decorated with paler blue spots and threw it into his mouth. The familiar ice helmet formed over his head… but that wasn’t all. Pac had found that recently his transformations had gotten a bit more… personal. Not only did his skin change, but his eyes did too. They remained blue but his peuples seemed to frost over so that his gaze was as chilling as the rest of him. Even his clothes changed. Somehow his blue hoodie and white t-shirt were replaced by a sleeveless, hooded, sweatshirt with ice surrounding the hood and arm holes. All of his clothes took on a bluish hue and two snowball like buttons appeared on his front. 

After the transformation was complete, Pac opened his mouth and allowed his tube toung to take center stage. But, like it had in his titanium form, it had taken on a different look and now had a frozen nozzle at the end. Pac took a moment to brace himself and then a blast of frozen energy burst forward from his tongue. It froze many of the ghosts in their tracks and the tornado broke apart, causing the limo to plumet out of the sky. His friends yelped but Pac acted quickly. He let loose another burst of ice and created an ice ramp for the limo to slide down. The hover wheels hit the ice hard and began sliding down, but not long after the ghosts reassembled and attempted to carry it off again. Pac was having none of this and promptly flew face first into the ghosts. 

Chomp, chomp, chomp.

Soon there weren’t enough ghosts left for the tornado to stay together and the limo floated to the ground. Cyli and Spiral took this opportunity to start blasting the last of the ghosts.

…

President Spheros was still breathing heavily but smiled out his window as he watched the kids easily dispatch the kidnapping attempt. His chest swelled with pride… but then he felt the limo shift. He turned just in time to see a pale blue ghost with a mustache and red glasses coming right at his face. He tried to scream but the ghost slammed into him, his ectoplasm muffling his voice as it fazed into his head. He struggled violently for what felt like forever… and then somehow felt his own body being ripped away from him. The feeling in his fingers and toes went numb and the rest wasn’t far behind. Senses turned dull, sight was ripped away from him, and then… nothing.

…

Pac’s sneakers hit the ground just as his berry wore off. He was looking around to see if he’d missed anything when suddenly there was a glow from inside the limo.

“Woah, what was that?” Spiral asked.

Pac didn’t ask. He rushed to the limo and opened the door.

“Mr. President! Are you okay!?” He asked.

The green man was sitting looking completely normal besides the strange tint of his eyes. Pac was actually taken aback when he noticed that the normally yellow eyes staring at him were oddly blue and glazed over. He coughed before responding.

“Yes! I’m fine.” He informed him. “Everything’s just… perfect.”

Pac blinked and the look was gone. He sighed.

“Oh…” He reached forwards for a split second but retracted his arms at the last second. The president had flinched away a bit at this advancement. That… stung a bit. “Good…. That’s… good.”

…

Pac felt his cheeks burning a bit as he stood back in class. He didn’t know what came over him at that moment. Was he about to… hug the president? That would have been totally inappropriate… right? Of course it would. He wouldn’t have flinched away if it wasn’t.

The president’s bodyguards appeared in the doorway.

“Please welcome, President Stratos Spheros.” They announced.

The president walked in.

“Right…. I’m history!”

And then walked right back out. Pac’s eyes widened for a moment.

“But, Mr. President.” He called, waving his hand a bit. “You said you’d stay and answer our questions!”

“Oh, stop whining!” The man said, spinning around to glare at him. “I’m a busy Commander-in-Chief!”

Pac flinched as he walked back out the door. The bodyguards looked a bit confused but followed.

“Oh yeah.” Skeebo smirked. “They’re REAL close.”

The class, just as confused at Pac had been, all dispersed back to their seats in disappointment.

“That was seriously strange…” Cyli stated.

“Totally.” Spiral agreed. “Especially after you just SAVED him…”

The trio stood in silence for a moment. Pac slumped and his face fell.

“Maybe he’s just stressed out after the ghost attack.” He reasoned, walking away with his hands shoved deep in his pockets.

Cyli and Spiral looked at each other in concern. Pac didn’t just look disappointed… he looked like he was beating himself up about it.

…

“Oh, move it, Buttler!” Betrayus ordered. “Can’t you see I’m trying to talk to the other twin twit!?”

The ghost in question stopped whipping down the screen and turned to look at his master before floating off. On said screen, the image of President Spheros (or his body at least) was seen in his trashed office, throwing papers around and looking for something.

“Well, Dr. Buttocks. Have you found anything yet?”

“Listen, Betrayus.” The scientist’s voice projected out of the green man’s mouth. “I’m searching as fast as I can!”

“We’ll search faster!” Betrayus ordered. “Before someone sees you!”

“So what if they do?” He argued, pausing in his search to walk over to a mirror and gaze at the black device implanted into his left ear. “All they’ll see is they’re witless President Spheros. They’ll never notice my latest brilliant device: The Corporeal Occupation Extenuator, which allows-”

“Which allows a ghost to possess a living being without time limits.” Betrayus interupted with a crude imitation of Buttock’s voice and accent. “As you’ve told me a hundred times!”

“Well, it is my latest, greatest, invention.”

“Yes, WEE, hurray for you! Now stop bragging and find out where my dim-bulb brother hid the repository, containing our bodies! Now!”

He proceeded to throw a copper tray at the screen. Buttocks seemed unbothered by this.

“You think you could do better? Then why don’t you come up here and posses your brother yourself?!”

Betrayus groaned.

“Don’t be absurd. I’M the ruler of the Nether World! I send OTHERS to do my dirty work. Like YOU!”

“Mind your tongue! May I remind you that I am the President?”

“Rubbish. You’re just in his body!”

“And I can do whatever I like to it.”

He then proceeded to rotate his head 160 degrees around his neck.

“Stop that! Stop that at once!”

“Why should I?” He then started dancing. “Haven't you heard? Possession is 9/10 of the law!”

“Don’t confuse me with fractions! Just find the repository with our bodies!”

“Oh, be quiet and let me think!”

“… But I didn’t say anything, Mr. President.” Pac said.

Buttocks turned to the door to see the yellow teen standing in the doorway. He looked just as apprehensive as he had the last time, maybe even more so… but the pphoney president wouldn’t know that. The ghost yelped and quickly got behind his desk.

“Agh! I mean,” he changed his voice back to Spheros’s and forced a smile. “Ah, Pac!… what do you want?”

Pac walked nervously over to his desk.

“I came to ask… are you mad at me?”

“Mad?” Buttocks echoed. “Oh, um, no I’m just… uh-”

“Don’t make excuses to that gluttonous gumball!” Betrayus insisted over the com.

“Don’t take that tone with me!” Buttocks shouted, slamming his hands on the table.

Pac, understandably, flinched back looking bewildered.

“I will take any tone I like, you pompous prig!”

“How dare you speak to me that way!?”

By this point Buttocks had jumped up on the desk and Pac was hiding behind his hands.

“But I… didn’t.” He uttered, confused.

“Oh, leave me alone, will you?” The man continued to the ghost on the other end of the com.

Pac swallowed down the lump in his throat. He didn’t know what was going on here, but one thing was for sure; He really didn’t like being yelled at by this man. Flashbacks to the food fiasco with Cyli flashed in his mind and, by extension, the big apology he’d received from the man after it was all over. He remembered distinctly that they’d almost hugged that time. But instead he just… patted him on the shoulder. Was that why he was upset? Because he reached to hug him after the attack?

“I’ll just come back later.” Pac offered, already walking back a bit.

“No! You stay right where you are!” ‘Spheros’ ordered.

“O-okay?” 

He folded his hands nervously over his front with a raised eyebrow.

“No!” Betrayus shouted. “Get rid of him at once, and then go find the Repository!”

“Well, what if I don’t want to find the Repository, huh?” Buttocks sassed, hopping off the desk. “What if I want to find the Tree of Life?” He hopped back up to sit on it. “What about that, HUH?”

“Huh?” Pac put a hand on his head.

…

Just as Betrayus was revving up for another round of insults, four ghosts entered the throne room. Inky, Blinky, Pinky and Clyde watched as their “leader” began loudly talking to himself.

“Now listen to me, you egotistical ectoplasm! You insipid specter! You waddling wraith! You impertinent eidolon!”

“Uh… you talkin’ to us?’ Inky asked. “… Cuz’ if you are…”

“You’re gonna need to translate.” Blinky agreed.

“Agh!” He jumped in front of his TV set up. “No! Yes! I mean… Buttler!” He grabbed the ghost. “I told you to clean the screen!” He threw the purple ghost against said screen, leaving a large splatter. Betrayus turned back to the ghost gang. “I am very, very, busy, but also not doing anything! Nothing happening here, no sir-ee. Now scoot!”

“Uh… but you sent for us…” Inky said.

“I did? Well… I changed my mind. So out! Vamoose!” His eyes lit up with fire. “GET!”

They screamed and were chased out of the room by a blazing inferno.

“He's even nuttier than usual.” Pinky groaned, nursing some of her burnt ectoplasm.

“I didn’t think that was possible.” Clyde said.

…

After a bit more incohesive nonsense, Pac was kicked out of the Roundhouse. He grunted as he hit the floor.

“See ya…” Pac groaned in confusion.

…

Later that night, it was still all he could think about.

“Maybe he’s just upset over all the recent attacks and stuff…” he muttered as he laid flat on his back in bed before rolling over onto his side. “But then why was he going on about the Repository? And the Tree of Life?” He rolled onto his other side. “No, no, something's definitely wrong.”

“Yeah, dude.” Spiral agreed with his pillow pressed over his head. “You keep wakin’ me up!”

Not a moment later, Pac’s head popped down to look at his roommate on the bottom bunk.

“Did you hear that?”

“I was trying not to.”

“Not me!” Pac insisted, jumping to the floor and grabbing the pillow off his face. “Listen!”

Spiral, removing his sleeping mask from his face, sat up in bed and listened. He could hear something in the distance. Soft wailing. 

Pac and Spiral stumbled out of bed. Pac then proceeded to bump into Cyli on his way out of the room and all three of them yelped.

“What are you doing out here?” He asked her.

“I heard something.” She answered.

“And Sherry didn’t?” Spiral asked.

Cyli grinned something between and smirk and a soft smile.

“That girl will sleep through the end of the world and press snooze when the sun decides to explode.” She stated.

They all took a moment to giggle at that before they heard the sound again.

“The roof! Come on!” Pac ordered.

Once again the trio raced through the halls, bare feet slapping noisily against the cold floor as they made their way up to the roof. They came face to face with a familiar gaggle of ghosts as the burst through the doors. Unfortunately, on both their parts, the familiar part eluded them for a moment. They all screamed at the sight of each other. Pac jumped into Spiral’s arms. Cyli and Pinky screeched. Inky and Blinky spun around in circles for some reason. Spiral screamed and Pac slapped a hand over his mouth, still bridal style in his best friend’s arms.

“Why are you on the roof?” Pac asked them.

“We had to talk to you in private.” Pinky told him.

“You could have just come to our room.” Spiral said as he set Pac back on his feet.

The ghost gang was quiet for a moment.

“What did I say?” Clyde said to the others.

“Hey, the joint could be bugged!” Inky insisted. “Or- or SLUGGED.”

Cyli deadpanned at the lame excuse.

“Okay, whatever.” She said, waving her hands a bit. “So what did you wanna tell us?”

“Oh! Yeah.” Inky said, floating up to them. “That we have a HUGE problem.”

“We’re talkin’ built-a-monument-to-it huge!” Blinky expressed.

Pac, Cyli and Spiral starred in concern as they began to explain.

“What do you mean. “Betrayus was nuttier than usual”?'' Pac asked.

“I didn’t think that was POSSIBLE.” Cyli agreed.

Clyde put his hands up and hummed to his teammates, clearly happy with his ability to match his dialect with those around him.

“He was ranting and raving!” Pinky told them.

“At HIMSELF!” Inky added.

“I’m telling ya.” Blinky said. “He’s gone off the deep end without a paddle, pal!”

Pac’s brows furrowed as he brought a hand to his chin.

“Talking to himself… just like with the president.” He realized.

“The president and Betrayus are brothers, right?” Spiral speculated. “So maybe they both flipped out at the exact same time.”

“Or maybe…” Cyli said. “the president is possessed?”

Pac’s eyes brightened as he remembered the previous oddities he’d witnessed. The glowing glazed look, the abnormal behavior after the attack, the different and familiar accent right before he announced his presence in the round house.

“But he can’t be.” He said, seemingly trying to convince himself. He looked to his ghostly friends. “You said ghosts can’t stay in a person more than a few minutes.”

“Right!” Blinkey said. “Otherwise you guys would be in a lot more trouble!” He giggled. “I mean, all we’d have to do is possess a person each and you wouldn’t be able to touch us! Unless you felt like going cannibale that is.”

The color drained from Pac’s face at that notion as he loudly gagged. Spiral put a hand on his friend’s shoulder and swatted at Blinkey with a glare. The ghost looked a bit perplexed but backed off.

“Uh… sorry.”

“It’s fine!” Pac said, trying to straighten his back again. “It’s just… ugh.” He shuddered. “Anyways, we need help figuring this out.”

“Who do we know who’s an expert on acting weird?” Spiral asked.

The trio thought for a moment… and then grinned in unison.

“In the meantime.” Cyli turned to the ghost gang. “We need more info on what’s happening here. Head back to the netherworld and try to figure out what’s going on with Betrayus. If the Prez IS possessed, he’s probably talking to him through some kind of com. See if you can spot anything on Betrayus.”

They nodded.

…

Sir Cumfrence was seemingly putting the finishing touches on a metallic gizmo that greatly resembled Pac’s berry dispenser in shape and size as he and his friend entered the lab.

“Good morning!” He said to them. “Come to visit Fuzzbits I presume?”

The little monster yawned and shook awake on his little pet bed. It was a good guess. Pac had been coming over rather frequently to make sure he was settling in. But now…

“Actually, Sir Cumfrence.” Cyli said as they set their hoverboards down on the table.

“We think the president’s been possessed by a ghost!” Pac said.

“A really spaced out spook to boot!” Spiral added.

“Fascinating.” The scientist said, clearly not paying much attention as he picked up the contraption he was working on. “Okey-donkey, let’s see if this works.”

“Uh, did you hear what we-”

Sir C flipped the gizmo open and all hell broke loose. There was a small light within that, small as it was, was absolutely BLINDING. And that wasn’t even the worst part. No, that honor went to the ear splitting SOUND it emitted. It sounded like a high pitched scream and, while not being very loud on it’s own, it felt like it was vibrating the entire skull of whoever was unlucky enough to be in it’s presence. Fuzzbits jumped up with a yelp and promptly attempted to bury his head in the bed with his ears pressed flat against his noggin. Everyone else simply covered their ears for mercy.

“Aaaaaaaaahhhhhhhgggggg!” Pac grunted, flopping onto his back.

“Make it sto-hop!” Cyli begged, joining Pac on the floor as she kicked her legs.

“Aaagh, my face is MELTING!” Spiral said.

Pac had managed to make it back to his feet and began stomping his foot in a vain attempt to stop the pain. Spiral shook his head back and forth in an attempt to do the same. Cyli seemed to have simply accepted her fate on the floor and writhed. Sir Cumfrence hopped around as he despretly tried to close the lid. Grinder eventually decided enough was enough and flipped it closed for him.

“Took you long enough!” Sir C said.

The robot reached forward to turn it back on but his creator yanked it out of reach.

“Don’t even think about it, tin-tush.”

“What WAS that?” Pac asked, still nursing his aching head.

“I call it the Soundo-strobo-cacophonator!”

“What’s it do?” Spiral asked, hand still glued to his head, just in case.

“Besides make us wanna smash it?!” Cyli added as she picked herself up off the floor, glasses slightly askew.

“Well, you see,” the man began, handing the gizmo to Pac to look at. “sometimes I build inventions to solve a problem and sometimes…”

“You build inventions to CAUSE one?” Pac guessed, looking at the thing in his hand with confusion.

He hummed in confirmation.

“It’s a wacky world.” The scientist stated before wandering off again.

“Right…” Pac said, putting his hands, and by extension (and completely on accident) the machine, into his pockets. “So, what are we gonna do about President Spheros?”

There was a click and soft buzz from above. They all turned to the lab’s tube entrance.

“Ah, that’s him coming now! Good!” Sir C stated.

Cyli and Spiral ducked for cover but Pac stayed put.

“No, bad!” He said. “He’s-”

“Talk later!” Spiral said, grabbing him under the arms and pulling him off his feet. “Hide now!”

The three of them ran behind one of the large generators and kneeled down just as the door burst open and “President Spheros” burst out looking slightly manic.

“Sir Cumfrence!” He boomed, voice just a little off. He cleared his throat and fixed his stance. “I mean, Sir Cumference.”

“Perfect.” Betrayus’s voice sounded in Buttocks’s ear. “ Get that old coot to tell you where he hid the repository with our bodies. But be subtle about it.”

“So, Sir Cumference.” The ghost said, walking over to the man. “I was wondering if you could remind me…” his eyes shifted. “Hey, look at this lab!” He wandered over to a table full of machines and glowing tubes. “I’ve never seen anything like it!”

“But… you were just here yesterday.” Sir C stated.

“Oh.” The possessed president said, turning back to the other scientist. “Yes, well, I simply LOVE what you’ve done with the place. Such interesting inventions- as President of Pac World I order you to tell me exactly what each one does.”

Sir Cumference saw nothing strange about this and chuckled joyously.

“Happy to! If I could remember.”

Phony Spheros walked over to a small ray on a table.

“Oh, what does this do?” He asked.

“You’re going to blow it!” Betrayus roared.

Not-the-president clicked a button on the ray and it shrunk him to the size of a beetle.

“Nevermind, I get the idea.” He said as Sir Cumference picked the ray off the table and restored his fraudulent friend to proper size.

“Quit playing around you pin-head!”

“Stop pestering me!” Possessed Stratos demanded.

“But I didn’t say anything.” Sir C stated

“Do I look like I’m talking to you!?”

“Yeah.”

“Oh yeah,” Cyli whispered to her friends. “He’s lost it.”

“Ask him about the repository!” Betrayus ordered.

“I will do as I please!”

“Of course, you’re the president.” Sir Cumference said, still utterly baffled. “Sometimes I have to wonder how the heck you got elected.”

The teen trio had been listening to this the entire time, trying to gauge just how long the puppet president would be staying so they could talk to Sir C or at least how they could get out of the room without being noticed… but then Pac felt a furry head butt against his leg. He looked down to see Fuzzbits purring at his feet. Pac looked him in the eye and put a finger to his lips in a shushing motion. Instead of doing as he was told however, the little monster began hopping towards the two green adults.

“Fuzz, wait!” Pac whispered.

It was too late. Fuzzbits walked up to the Possessed Pac Worlder and sniffed a few times before coming to the same conclusion as the kids. This was not the real Prez. Unfortunately though, he dealt with this in a very hands-on way. He snarled, entered his feral form, and jumped on the man’s face.

“A monster!” He screamed as Fuzzbits gripped his face. “Get him off of me! Get him off!”

He stumbled into Grinder who proceeded to domino fall into a few other machines that caused the wall the kids were hiding behind to fall. It would have crushed them if they hadn’t jumped out of the way at the last second. But they were exposed now. Fuzzbits jumped off the imposter's face, scampered away and now he could see the kids standing off to the side, eyes wide and fearful.

“What are THEY doing here!?”

“Well let me see…” Sir C mumbled. “They came to tell me something…”

The “president” glared at the kids. Sir C might not know what they were trying to tell him but HE DID.

“RUN!” Pac shouted.

The three of them did just that, snatching their hoverboards off the table and booking it.

“Security! Sound the alarm!” “Spheros” called on his com as they ran out of the lab. “I’ve been attacked by Pac Man and his cohorts in crime! GET THEM!”

…

Pac, Cyli and Spiral zoomed out of the lab’s exit on their hoverboards just as guards with PSC’s set to stun started flooding out of the roundhouse and firing. They managed to dodge the blasts and entered a nearby tube. Cyli glanced backwards.

“We lost the feds.” She called and sighed. “Just in time.”

Just then, lights and sirens started up from behind them. All three teens twisted around to see two blue and red hover cars hot on their tails.

“Yeah, to be chased by the police!” Pac said, putting his hands on his helmeted head in panic.

Cyli stared at the vehicles in shock.

“I can’t believe this is happening!” She cried.

They opened into an intersection and three more hovercrafts joined the chase. By the time they passed a second one, there were eight. The kids struggled to weave through speed limit obeying cars and dodge the lasers being shot at them at once.

“Come on, we’re the good guys!” Spiral pleaded.

“Honest!” Cyli called.

“Forget it!” Pac told them. “We gotta ditch ‘em! Right! Now!”

They took a sharp left and swooped over another set of police cars as they zoomed past. The cars behind them breaked but it was too late. They crashed into each other and fell to the bottom of the tube.

The police were no longer chasing them (as closely at least) but this tube was even more crowded. Pac almost got clipped and only dodged by gripping the edge of his board and flipping backwards. It was a close save and he was then almost immediately ran into by another car that he had to leap over to avoid, only narrowly managing to land back on his hoverboard after about five cars speed under him.

“We gotta hide!” He stated as his friends caught up. “But where?!”

“Bro, I’m not even sure where we are.” Spiral stated.

“I am.” Cyli said, taking the lead. “There’s a tube stop where I get a lot of my clothes just up ahead. Follow me!”

And that’s how they ended up hiding from the police inside Hot Topic. Or, more specifically, inside a Hot Topic window display. Two officers ran by, completely ignoring the three “mannequins” that looked suspiciously like Spiral with his hair down wearing a black dress, Pac wearing a black wig, a baggy black t-shirt and combat boots, and Cyli wearing a long black hoodie, sunglasses and a new dress. Despite being easily recognizable, they were not, in fact, recognized and they all slumped in relief once they were passed.

“We’ll have to lay low till dark.” Pac whispered. “Then try to sneak home and get my backup berry supply.”

Spiral hummed. They turned to look at him but he was just checking himself out.

“Does this make me look fat?” He asked, popping his hip and striking a pose.

His friends stared at him for a moment.

“I resent you calling yourself fat, you beanpole, but you do look pretty hot in that.” Pac said, grinning and looking him up and down.

“Totally.” Cyli beamed. “You should come shopping with me, Spiral, you look so cute!”

Spiral smiled as well and the three of them shared a laugh and embraced. Things were tense but it was nice to have a moment of reprieve in such a dire circumstance… it was shorter than they anticipated though.

“Citizens of Pacopolis!” The President’s voice boomed over the city speakers.

The trio turned to see an image of President Spheros on a giant projector.

“It is with a heavy heart that I must report to you that I, you’re beloved president, have just been viciously assaulted by Pac Man and his two fiendish friends!” Images of Pac, Cyli, and Spiral flashed across the screen. “ Anyone seeing these three dangerous fugitives must notify the police IMMEDIATELY! These dangerous fugitives must be brought to justice! Or, to coin a phrase: gotta catch ‘em all~”

The three teens looked up at the board in horror.

…

They wasted no time getting the heck outta there. The police weren’t just after them. They were after them in cherrychopers. 

“Tensions run high as authorities mount a massive Pac-Manhunt.” The green skinned reporter stated.

They set up wanted posters on every imaginable surface. Everywhere they looked, their faces were plastered next to the words “wanted”. They tightly clutched each other's hands as police cars and a pineapple tank rolled/hovered by. Once they passed, Pac motioned for his friend to follow and lead them through the streets.

“Where are we going, Pac?” Spiral asked, clutching the yellow boy’s hand tightly.

“To the one person that’ll take us in with no hesitation.” He told them. “AND the only  woman alive that not even the whole Pacworld army would dare try to mess with.”

They continued to weave their way through the city till they came across a small house closer to the edge of town. The three of them sneaked up to the back door and Pac gave a small knock.

It opened without a moment of hesitation and there stood an orange woman with short gray hair wearing green yoga pants and a red muscle shirt. She grinned down at them.

“Took ya long enough.” Aunt Spheria said.

Pac beamed and ran into her arms. The woman squeezed him tightly.

“Get in ya little fugitives.” She ordered, ushering Cyli and Spiral inside. “Before the police get ya’ an’ I have to kill a bitch with my waffle iron.”

She slammed and locked the door behind them.

“Now.” She said, turning to the three kids with narrowed eyes. “When was the last time ya’ll ate?”

Pac’s stomach growled. He blushed and shied away from the sympathetic looks he was getting from his friends.

“Enough said.” Spheria chuckled. “Come on, kids. Ya’ll can tell me what happened over some mac and cheese.”

…

“So what you’re sayin’ is I DON’T need to kill Stratos.” 

“No, Aunt S.” Pac said, exasperated, as he swallowed a mouth full of macaroni. “It’s not his fault, he’s been possessed.”

“Dang it.” She said, sitting back down with hot cocoa on a tray. “There goes my excuse.”

“Aunt S.”

“Oh hush and drink your cocoa.” She said, setting the largest mug down in front of her nephew. “Well, in any case, it’s swell to you again, Spiral.”

Spiral accepted his mug from her with a grin.

“Right back atcha, ma’am.”

“And it’s a pleasure to meet you, Cylindria.” Spheria said, offering her the last cup.

She hesitated before taking it. Not because she was nervous or suspicious. It was because she had been staring at the woman intently the whole time and only just managed to snap out of it.

“Sorry,” she said, taking the mug. “you just look… so familiar.”

The woman only grinned.

“I get that a lot.” She leaned forward. “Well it seems like you youngins got a lot to figure out. But listen here and listen good, alright? I’ve been around awhile and I know a thing or two about gettin’ in trouble with the law- don’t ask.” She said, pointing a finger at them. “Point is, I know you little smarty pantses probably got this all worked out already but if ya’ don’t, don’t be scared to ask an old lady for some help. Auntie S’s got your back, alright?”

They all chorused back “alright” or “thanks, Aunt S” in broken unison. She grinned and got up from the dining room table.

“Welp! I got some cleanin’ to do. If ya’ need anythin’ just holler. And take your time too. Ya’ll can stay as long as you need.” 

“Thank you ma’am.” Cyli said. “But it’ll just be till dark. And, really, thanks so much for all of this.”

“Don’t you worry your pretty little head about it.” Spheria flashed her a smile and then walked away.

Cyli blushed a bit and the three of them were left alone.

“Well, Cyli.” Spiral said, nudging her with his shoulder. “Now you know where Pac get’s his awesomeness from.”

Pac scoffed.

“Yeah, right. If I inherit a TENTH of that I’ll be set for life.” 

“Are you being self-deprecating again?” Spiral deadpanned.

“So what if I am?”

“So what if I tickle the shit out of you?”

“Ack!”

Spiral proceeded to chase Pac around the table. The yellow one then snatched the boy’s macaroni with his tube tongue as he ran by and out of the room.

“HEY! Oh, now you’re really in for it!”

“Don’t kill our best friend, Spiral.” Cyli called, sipping on her cocoa.

“No promises!”

…

The ghost gang met up in a corner of the nether.

“Any luck finding them?” Blinky asked Inky.

“No.” The blue ghost admitted. “They’ve vanished off the face of Pac World which is kinda a good thing… but still…”

“Hey, if you can’t find them no one can, Inky.” Clyde stated. “Do not criticize yourself for this. It merely proves our compatriots are well hidden.”

Inkey gave a small smirk.

“Thanks, buddy.”

“Well we’ve had a little bit of luck on recon.” Pinky said. “I snuck up on Betrayus when he was taking a nap. There’s something in his ear. It’s probably the com Cyli was talking about.”

“An’ I think I’ve figured out who’s possessing the Prez.” Blinky stated. “I went to bother Buttocks in his lab but he’s nowhere to be found. Even knocked over some stuff to see if he was hiding and just ignoring me but nope. He’s GONE.”

“Any idea what’s letting him possess the guy for so long?” Pinky asked.

“Nope.” Blinkey said. “Which is kinda the only thing that matters since that’s the only way to stop all this bullshit.”

“Even if we DID know, it wouldn’t do us any good.” Inky said. “Since I still can’t FIND Pac, Cyli and Spiral.”

“Then we keep looking until we do or can.” Blinky said. “Pinky, why don’t you help Inky on patrol, you two have always been the stealthiest. Me and Clyde’ll keep trying to figure out what’s lettin’ Butt Brain stay in the Prez’s head for so long. We’ll meet back here in another two hours.”

“Got it.” His friends chorused back.

They broke off again and got back to work.

…

Spheria chuckled to herself as she heard a loud thump followed by a bout of uncontrollable laughter. Spiral had only come over one or two times in the past. His parents were always really busy during the holidays so he spent Easter with them once. He was a good boy. Kind, silly, accepting, a big heart and a pretty mean right hook. But what she knew most of all was that he was probably the best thing to ever happen to her boy. She remembered distinctly, the exact moment Pac stopped trying to hide every inch of his skin in public. It was when that guy came into his life. And it seemed the third member of their party was exactly what they needed to ensure the boys didn’t kill themselves with their own antics. 

“ACK! Wait-ahahaha! Cyli! No! BETRAYAL! AHAHAHAHAHAH!”

Or not. 

Pac stumbled into her room not long after, smiling but breathing heavily and clutching his belly (it was probably sore from laughing so hard).

“They seem fun.” Spheria said, grinning as she wiped off some picture frames.

“Yeah.” Pac said, still grinning like an idiot. “They’re the best.”

He walked over to her with the intention of giving her another hug and thanking her for taking them in again… but he paused. He peaked over her shoulder at the picture she was cleaning. There were three people in the picture. Her, his dad, and Sir C. They were sitting outside under a tree, arms all around each other and smiling into the camera (no doubt being held by his mother). He’d seen this picture before, but never recognized Sir C as he looked so young. His spiky hair was full and black, he had no mustache and was wearing his hair in a man bun. But now that he was looking at it again, it was definitely him… but he also noticed something in the corner of the frame. An elbow… a green elbow… but the rest of the person was cut off. Like they had been… cropped out.

“Aunt S?”

“What’s up, sweetie?”

“…” Pac thought about not asking the question. It didn’t feel right to interrogate her like this. Not after she just showed up for him in his time of need. But waiting for the perfect time was what caused all this in the first place. “…Why… don’t I know President Spheros?”

Spheria cocked an eyebrow and glanced at him over her shoulder.

“Judgin’ by all the times I see ya’ll on TV together, I’d say ya’ know each other just fine.”

“No, I mean… why do I only know him as President Spheros… instead of Uncle Stratos…?”

Spheria paused… and gentilly set the photo back on the table.

“… You can be mad at me if ya’ want.” She told him.

“I don’t wanna be mad, I just… There’s nothing to be MAD about…”

“Really? I raised ya’ off in the middle of nowhere without tellin’ ya’ there were two whole other adults that knew an’ loved yer parents just as much as I do. I’d be pretty mad.”

“Well, I’m not mad, I just… wanna know why…”

Spheria’s expression was soft. She nodded her head towards the bed and Pac obediently took a seat. She settled down right next to him.

“Welp…” she said, leaning forward and resting her chin on her fist. “… I guess the best way to put it is that me an’ Stratos had contrasting opinions on what was best fer’ you when you were little.”

“He… had a say in how I was raised?”

“Not officially and not by the time I was done with him.” She smirked. “But he sure tried to.” She sighed and ran a hand down her face. “Look kiddo. When you were put in my care I tried my darnedest to keep you safe from all the bull I KNEW you’d have thrown at ya’ for being the last yellow one. That’s why I took ya’ out there in the first place. I wanted you to be able to just be a kid. I didn’t want any o’ this world savin’ ghost fightin’ bullshit to be put on yer shoulders at the ripe old age of TWO… But Stratos thought THAT would make the most sense. He wanted to raise you in the heart of the city knowin’ everythin’ that was gonna be expected of ya’ when the time came. He wanted to start TRAININ’ ya’. He wanted to basically raise ya’ as the chosen one an’ I wasn’t havin’ none of that.” 

She looked over at him to see how he was taking this new information. He appeared to just be in the processing stage at that point. He didn’t show much emotion other than just… confusion.

“So you… cut him off?” He said.

“Not at first.” Spheria explained. “I took calls from both him and Sir C for a while. Sent them pictures, let ‘em say hi over video… but it didn’t last long. They kept insistin’ that keepin’ all this from ya’ would be WORSE than exposin’ ya’ to bein’ the odd one out to THOUSANDS of people at once and havin’ ya’ train yer life away. CC backed off eventually but Stratos wouldn’t budge. “He won’t be ready, Spheria!” “He’s SIX Stratos, the only thing he should be gettin’ ready for is helpin’ me bake this pie!”!” She slumped and shook her head. “I realize now… that he had a point…” She admitted. “If I could do it all over again… I’m not really sure what I’d do but…” Her head turned to him again. “… well that’s the story. How ya’ feelin’?”

Pac was silent for a moment. He looked down at his lap.

“… I don’t know.” He admitted. “I think… I think you made the right choice.” He told her. “I needed all those years out in the “middle of nowhere” to build me up. The only reason I’m the way I am now is because of all the security you gave me when I was a kid. I just…” he clutched his hands over his middle. “I wish we could have done all of it… I wish… We lost so much time.” He squeezed his eyes shut. “Sir C’s wasting no time making up for all our years apart but… it feels like me and the prez are just business partners and I want us to be more. We can’t even do stuff like HUG. It’s all too awkward… We lost so much time and I’m not sure how to get it back.”

A strong arm wrapped around his shoulders. Pac gladly twisted his body into her embrace.

“I’m so sorry, Pac.” She whispered. “You deserve to have that. You deserve your Uncle Stratos.”

He slumped into her arms.

“Do you think we can ever get there?” He asked.

“I don’t know.” She admitted. “… But once you get that ghost that’s possessin’ him… tell ‘im I’d like to talk.”

…

If saving the city and freeing an innocent man from the clutches of a ghost wasn’t good enough incentive, the message his aunt gave him was definitely adequate. Pac and his friends had successfully snuck their way back to the dorms, now they just had to hope beyond hope that a desperate text from Cyli had been enough to warrant some outside help. Otherwise, they were toast.

“Psst!” A familiar voice came from above.

The trio looked up to see a pink face waving from the boy’s dorm window. Sherry placed a retractable ladder that they’d stashed in their room the last time they had to sneak in and Pac began climbing up while Cyli and Spiral stood watch.

“Thanks a million, Sherry.” Pac whispered to his friend as she took his hand and pulled him in.

“You’d have to be an utter moron to not know shomething fishy wash going on with that announshment.” Sherry stated. “I’m jusht glad you guysh trushted me enough to reach out.”

“Always.” He told her with a smile.

Now safely inside the dorm, Pac made a beeline for the closet. Digging to the very back of it and lifting up a panel with a passcode, Pac reached in and lifted out his little power palm. 

“Hi again.” He said.

He reached forward to pluck a few berries off only to realize that past-him had made a fatal blunder.

“Uh oh…”

“What? What’sh wrong?” Sherry asked as he closed his dispenser and stood back up.

When he turned around, his cheeks were flushed orange and he was wearing a strained smile.

“Nothing, it’s fine.” He told her. “I really can’t thank you enough for your help, Sher, but you should head back to your dorm. I’m not sure what they’ll do to you if they find you helping us.”

Sherry looked frightened at that notion. She glanced at the open window.

“Are you guy’sh gonna be okay?” She asked him.

“We’ll be fine.” He told her, then he leaned in a bit closer and grinned slyly. “We’ll take care of Cyli for you, don’t worry.”

Sherry’s pink cheeks flushed pinker but she didn’t say anything else. Pac climbed down the ladder and she retracted it as soon as his feet hit the grass.

“You know, Pac.” Cyli said as he jogged over to them. “I’m really proud of you. I didn’t think you had the willpower to keep from eating your emergency backup berries.”

Pac’s cheeks once again flushed bright orange as he glanced remorsefully at his berry dispenser. He chuckled nervously.

“Uh… me either…”

“Dude…” Spiral chastised, anxiously. “how many?”

Pac’s strained smile fell as he guiltily rattled the almost empty dispenser.

“There’s one left.” He admitted. “But that’s better than none, right?”

“You bet it is.” Cyli said, putting a hand on his shoulder.

“So now what do we do?” Spiral asked.

Just then, car lights illuminated them.

“You could give up!” A voice that didn’t belong to the perpetrator called.

The three teens gawked in horror as they turned to see “President Spheros” in front of a limo with two sentinel ghosts restraining the body gaurds.

“But that would spoil the fun of watching you be wiped out!” The possessed man said with a malicious grin. It looked twisted and wrong on Spheros’s usually kind, or at the very worst exasperated, features. He pointed up to where a gaggle of ghosts were floating overhead. Inky, Blinky, Pinky, and Clyde were among them, trying to hide their concern. They couldn’t do much when pretending to be part of the crowd, but at the very least they could step in if it was really an emergency. “As president of Pac World, I command you to hand over your power berries.” The man stated. “And then-”

“Cut the crap!” Pac shouted at him. “You’re not the president! President Spheros would never do any of this, he’d never team up with ghosts, he’d never send his whole police force after CHILDREN and he’d never treat ANYONE like this! So you’ll do kindly to GET OUT of him and face me so I can sink my teeth into your pathetic ectoplasm!”

Cyli and Spiral had to grab a hold of his arms as he lurched forwards with his teeth bared. The president-that-was-not seemed frightened at first before regaining his composure with an evil smirk.

“I may not be ze president,” Buttock’s caniving voice sounded from the man’s lips, “but I still hold all ze power here, Pac Man. Hand over your berry dispenser or Sir Kumquat gets it!”

The kids watched in horror as one of the sentinel ghosts reached inside the limo and threw Sir C, who was tightly bound with netherworld cords, roughly onto the floor.

“Don’t do it!” He screamed, but his voice was muffled by the rope.

Pac immediately backed off, his once vicious expression replaced with fear.

“O-okay…!” He said, putting his arms up in surrender. “Just don’t hurt him…” his friends gaped in fear as he reached into his pocket. “You can have my… berry dispenser.”

Spiral’s expression shifted as he realized that the gizmo Pac had taken out of his pocket, and was currently walking towards the enemy with, had a metallic shine instead of its usual mate yellow. But Buttocks didn’t notice at all.

“At last, the power is mine!”

“What’s wrong with you?!” Betrayus crowed. “ It’s MINE! Mine mine mine!”

“Whatever.” Buttocks scoffed as he swiped the “dispenser” out of Pac’s hand.

Once his hand was empty, Pac covered his eyes and braced himself, as did Cyli, Spiral and Sir Cumfrence. Buttocks popped the lid open. And instead of power berries, he got blinding light and the worst sound to ever assault Pac World. It was so intense that even Betrayus’s head was fried from the other side of the com, his high pitched squeal echoing throughout the throne room. In fact, it was so intense that it forcefully ejected Dr Buttocks from the president’s body. The ghost flew out of the back of his head and splattered against the wall of the school. Pac caught Stratos in his arms just as he was about to hit the floor and closed the Soundo-strobo-cacophonator. The top clicking shut was music to their ringing ears. The man stirred and groaned in his arms.

“Hold on, sir.” Pac said. “You’re safe now. Stay here while I-” He looked up to where the ghosts were flying overhead, fully prepared to pounce… until he realized it wasn’t necessary.

“Let’s book it outta here!” Inky shouted.

“Dr Heinie-head’s slime!” Pinky yelled.

“Game over, man, game over!” Clyde cried.

The ghosts all ran for the netherworld before Pac even moved a muscle. The boy sighed.

“Pac…”

He looked back down at the president. The man’s eyes had cracked open the slightest bit but he looked exhausted. And, to make matters worse, he spat up a lump of blue slime all over both their clothes. Pac didn’t even flinch.

“It’s okay.” He told him. “You’re okay now.”

Spheros cracked a weak smile.

“Saved me again, did you?” He croaked, chuckling, as he raised a hand to the teen’s shoulder. “That’s my boy…”

…

A few moments and a quick change of clothes later, all five of them stood in the roundhouse, discussing the events prior.

“I’ve already informed Pacopolis that it was all just a big misunderstanding and you are still our great heroes.” He informed the teens.

The man still looked a little worse for wear. They’d seen people get possessed before but the physical backlash was never this bad. Then again, no one had ever been possessed that long before.

“The information we received from our ghostly spies about the possession extending doo-hicking Dr Buttocks invented is definitely concerning.” Sir C stated, looking over the other green man with a magnifying glass. “I’ll have to get to work on something to protect you from any future possessing attempts, my friend.”

Pac smiled at the look on Spheros’s face as Sir C kept getting closer and he kept having to lean away as to not have face connect with magnifying glass. His smile faded after a moment though.

“Uh… Mr. president?”

The man looked to him.

“Now that THAT’S all over and done with… I kinda have something I wanna talk to you about.” He told him. “If you’re up for it, that is…”

“Of course.” The man grinned, gently pushing the magnifying glass away. “Would you three mind giving us a moment?”

Cyli and Spiral agreed immediately and practically dragged Sir C out of the room. They could tell by the tone of their best friend’s voice that this was important. So there they stood, alone in Spheros’s office.

“… Let’s sit down.” Pac said, already walking towards the couch. “You’ve had a pretty rough day.”

“I imagine you have as well.” Spheros chuckled.

The two of them bounced onto the couch and let the tension release from their bodies as they relaxed into the cushions.

“Aunt Spheria wants you to have dinner with her next Tuesday.” 

Spheros blinked. Pac couldn’t tell what kind though. If it was surprise or confusion or even repressed excitement. But it felt like a very important blink.

“…She does?”

“Yeah.”

And there it was. The thing Pac had been avoiding. The tension. The silence. That LOOK that the president was giving him, like he knew absolutely everything about him while Pac was looking at a stranger. 

“Yeah.” He repeated, avoiding eye contact and raising a hand to the back of his head. “She… she also told me about that… disagreement you had… when I was little…”

Spheros didn’t need any more prompting to recall exactly what that disagreement was. He ducked his head.

“I’m not mad.” He said, quickly. “I’m just… I…” he blinked in surprise when he heard his own voice crack.

“I am… so sorry, Pac.” Stratos told him. “I shouldn’t have… I… I never should have even suggested it and I shouldn’t have pushed. If I could do it all over I-”

He paused when he heard a wet sniff. He lifted his head to see… tears… tears running down Pac’s face. Spheros was shocked. Pac seemed to be too. He was staring down at his feet with wide eyes as little drops of water patered against his sneakers. Then his eyes scrunched and he covered his face with his hands.

“It’s not fair….” He whimpered. “It’s not fair, dude! It’s not fair that you and Aunt S let an argument keep me away from someone that loved me! It’s not fair that I even had anything to prepare for when I was a baby! It’s not fair that I have to fight ghosts and that you were in charge of making sure I could! It’s not fair that any of this fell on you in the first place just because my parents are gone!”

Pac was not quick to tears. Not at all. So when it finally did happen that Pac would cry in front of President Spheros… something snapped. Pac gasped as a pair of hands appeared on his shoulders. Spheros was kneeling down in front of him. Their eyes met. For a few brief moments the whole word was only blue and yellow. Pac sniffed and cleared his throat. Wiping his eyes on the back of his arm, he grinned and chuckled hoarsely through his tears.

“Wow…Uh… heh… that was… a lot…” he tearfully laughed.

Spheros gentilly took his hand and pulled the arm away from his face. There were so many things he wanted to say. All so cliche and sappy and nowhere near good enough. But he tried.

“… I will never be able to make any of this up to you…” He admitted, reaching up with his other hand to wipe Pac’s face. “But if you would let me… it would be an honor to start trying.”

Pac wanted to say something. Thank him, forgive him, shout with glee. But all that he could summon from his vocal chords were a few sobs. So he didn’t speak. Instead he smiled, stretching the corners of him mouth from ear to ear. He closed his eyes and leaned into the president’s hand, content at this long desired closeness finally being granted to him. Spheros moved in one fell swoop as sat next to Pac on the couch and brought the boy into a cautious but caring embrace. Pac’s eyes shot open in shock as he felt the man’s tired arms carefully wrapped around his torso. And with one more tearful smile, he hugged him back.

Chapter Text

“Pacster!” Spiral banged on the bathroom door as he called. “Hey buddy, are you okay? You’ve been in there, like, all morning.”

There was no response. Spiral turned to Cyli and the ghost gang with a helpless shrug.

“Maybe Pac got a bum burrito or something?” Pinky suggested.

Everyone leaned away with a disgusted groan while Blinky put his ear against the door.

“... Nah, way too quiet in there.” The red ghost stated.

“Good point.” Inky said, pressing his head in as well.

Then Clyde pressed his own enormous head to it as well, phasing into his friend’s ectoplasm.

“Perhaps something has befallen the young hero.” He said.

“Pac, we’re really starting to worry. Please come out.” Cyli begged.

“Don’t wanna…” Pac’s voice said from inside.

Pinky huffed.

“Then I’m going IN.” She muttered, sticking her head through the door.

“Woah woah woah!” Inky sputtered. “BOY’S bathroom!”

“You’ve got some boundary issues, girlfriend.” Cyli said, pulling Pinky out by the bottom of her “dress”.

“Whatevs.” She said, wrenching free. “I’m still taking a look.”

And she did just that, poking her head through again… and gasping softly at the sight that met her. Pac was leaning against the counter of the sinks and staring into the mirror, dejectedly. There was a HUGE zit on the side of his face, right beside his left eye. She then watched as he ran a hand through his greasy hair and pinched his sides. He made a sighing sound that almost sounded like disgust.

“Of all days…” he groaned, “why did TODAY have to be class picture day?”

…

Eventually, they managed to get Pac out of the bathroom but they hadn’t managed to get him to stop sulking.

“Sorry guys…” Pac sighed, hunched over on his bed. “I didn’t mean to make you worry.”

“Hey, it’s all right, bud.” Spiral told him.

“Yeah.” Cyli agreed, softly. “And it’s really not that bad, you know-”

“Not that bad!?” Inky exclaimed. “The thing looks like an active volcano!”

He was promptly shot multiple death glares, to which he sunk away in fear.

“Heheh...sorry.”

“It’s not just the zit…” Pac said. “I feel like a hot mess today. I’ve got bags under my eyes and my hair’s all greasy. Plus I’m pretty sure I’ve gained ten pounds in the last week.”

“Aw, Pac…” Cyli cooed.

She could see where he was coming from. He hadn’t had much time to shower or sleep with all the ghost attacks so his hair was messier and he did look tired. These were probably contributing factors to the zit as well. As for the other thing… she guessed he’d gained some weight recently but…

“It’s five at the most. And it’s to be expected, I mean, where do you think all that slime is going?”

“I know, I know.” He groaned, pressing the palms his hands against his eye sockets. “You’re right, it’s stupid.” He sighed again. “What’s wrong with me? This stuff doesn’t usually bother me so much.”

“There’s nothing wrong with you, bud.” Blinky told him, floating over. “You’re just having a bad day. It happens to the best of us.”

“Thou art only human, my dear friend.” Clyde added.

“What they said!” Spiral grinned, smacking him on the back.

“I guess…” The yellow teen shrugged, limply.

His friends slumped at the unenthusiastic reaction.

“...You know what? You need a little boost.” Cyli stated.

Pac looked at her in confusion.

“A what?”

“We’ve got some time before class. Let’s fix you up!” 

And with that, she dragged him to his feet and got to work.

…

It wasn’t much. She just had him change into a slightly baggier pair of shorts that wouldn’t cut into his belly, fixed his hair, and applied some makeup to his under eye and zit. It wasn’t super but she hoped it would make him feel a little better.

“You really think this is gonna help, Cyli?” He asked unsurely.

“Absolutely.” She smiled encouragingly. “Any imperfection can be improved with a liberal application of mounds of makeup.

“Where’d you even GET yellow foundation?”

“It’s actually cosplay makeup.” She admitted. “I bought some in case you ever wanted to try makeup with me.”

Pac felt his heart swell a bit with appreciation. She kept this stuff laying around just in case he wanted it? Wow. 

She handed him a mirror.

Pac squinted at his reflection. It was definitely an improvement. But the giant lump on the side of his head kinda stopped him from appreciating it. He prodded at the zit with a wince.

“Woah. Careful, dude.” Spiral said. “Suker could blow at any time.”

Pac sighed and turned back to Cyli.

“It’s okay with me if you close your eyes while you do this.” He told her.

“Don’t be silly, Pac. We’ve all been there.” She told him. “We just wanna help you.”

He felt his chest swell again but the feeling was quickly dulled.

“It looks to me like you do have your eyes closed.” Pinky smirked. “Judging by your work.”

Just then, by some odd quirk of physics, the makeup seemed to separate from Pac’s skin right where his zit was, exposing it to the world again.

Cyli glared at the pink ghost who chuckled. 

“May the best artist win.” She challenged.

Clyde jumped into the air with glee.

“It’s a makeup off!” He announced. “Ladies, grab your brushes and...”

Inky whistled, signifying the start of the match.

They went back and forth for a while, trying to cover the giant thing but nothing worked. Still, they kept trying.

“You go girls!” Inky and Blinky cheered.

But in the end…

“And the winner is…”

Pop!

“The zit!” Inky announced as it somehow burst through the makeup again.

Pinky and Cyli looked at each other in disbelief and collapsed onto the floor. Pac grabbed a cloth and wiped off the rest of the makeup they had applied around the pimple, trying to keep the under eye covered though.

“It’s no use.” He said. “Thanks for trying, but there’s no fixing this today.” He stated, pushing himself off the chair. “I just need to face it like a man.”

“You’re probably right, bud.” Spiral agreed. “I bet nobody even notices it.”

…

“I couldn’t help noticing the gigantic zit on the lemon head.” Skeebo grinned.

Of course.

“Here it comes…” Pac sighed.

“So I’ve decided to celebrate the event with a commemorative gross out portrait.” The bully said, pulling out a badly drawn close up of Pac’s face with the zit drawn at a comedic size. “Just not sure I made the zit big enough.”

Pac just closed his eyes in defeat and leaned against his left hand to cover the blemish. He could only be thankful Skeebo hadn’t picked up on any of his other insecurities yet.

“Hey, don’t worry Pac.”

The teen opened his eyes to see Sherry standing near his desk.

“I alwaysh break out right before picture day. It’sh a stressh thing.” She told him, revealing her own zit on the right side of the face. “Sho don't let it bother you, okay? I mean, with all the pressure your under nowadaysh, it’sh only expected.”

“Uh… thanks…” He said, haphazardly.

He wanted to take her words to heart… but he just couldn’t. Suddenly he felt another sore spot on the right side of his head. He reached up to it. Yup. Another zit. He groaned.

…

“Guys… I’m worried about Pacums…” Pinky admitted.

Her three friends turned to her in confusion as they floated aimlessly through a vacant part of the netherworld.

“What are ya’ worried for?” Blinky asked. “It’s just a zit. Pac’s a tough guy, he can take it.”

“That’s just it. It ISN’T just the zit.” Pinky insisted. “He said so himself. He feels like a mess today. He feels gross and fat and ugly-”

“You got all that out of his moping?” Inky asked.

Pinky glared at him.

“It’s called wallowing in self loathing. And you should be a little more sensitive about it since we’ve all done it before.”

The ghost gang simultaneously flinched back at the painful memories. Pinky sighed.

“I’m just worried that his classmates might call more attention to his looks today and make him feel worse.”

“It’s a question of WHEN, not IF.” Blinky stated. “Teenagers are monsters. Trust me, I’ve been one for over a decade.”

“And despite Spiral’s kind words, it is inevitable that they will at least notice his bulbous blemish.” Clyde stated.

“Uh, YEAH! I mean, did you see that thing?” Inky exclaimed. “That is one humongous goober on Pac man’s puss! Sure don’t wanna be around when that volcano erupts!”

He then comedically made the ectoplasm making up his face splash out everywhere like a zit popping. His friends were just about to chew him out for once again being insensitive when a loud whistle cut through the air. The four ghosts jumped, realizing someone had been listening.

“Man, what was that!?” Clyde trembled.

“You four!” A familiar voice boomed. “Front and center!”

They all looked upwards. Betrayus. The worst person possible to have overheard them.

“I want details. What’s this about the Pac-rat?”

They all gulped simultaneously.

“...Well. The kid’s got a zit the size of a cantaloupe on his melon.” Inky spoke up.

“And picture day’s today so it’s gonna do a total head trip on him.” Blinky added.

“Really…” Betrayus grinned evilly.

“The more he stresses, the more zits he gets.” Pinky sighed. “It’s a vicious cycle.”

The fire ghost chuckled menacingly.

“I’ll show the Pac-pest vicious.” He stated. “Bring me the meanest ghosts in the netherworld.” The ghost said to his butler. “the biggest jerks! The crummiest wise guys!”

So it turned out that the evil overlord had only heard the last comment Inky had made and therefore heard nothing about their concern for their friend. Fortunately, their cover was safe… Unfortunately, Pac had a big storm coming.

…

“All right, wise guys.” Betrayus addressed the group of ghosts. “I hear you’ve got pretty fresh mouths.”

The gaggle of ghouls consisted of two cyclops ghosts, a fire ghost, and three average ones in the colors of red, green, and blue.

“What’s it to y’a?” The fire ghost asked.

“Says who!?”

“I’ll show you fresh, y’a stinker!”

Betrayus smiled in satisfaction.

“Butler has kindly offered his services as a practice dummy.” He told them. “Emphasis on the dummy!”

The ghosts chuckled menacingly.

“So, show me what you’ve got!” The ghost lord ordered. “Reduce him to a sniveling heap! Do it!”

The ghosts surrounded the smaller purple one and began throwing insults.

“You’re a pretty cheeky guy, aren’t y’a!”

“If you think too hard, do you get a brain fart?”

“If that’s your face, which end’s up!?”

“Hahahhahahahahahahaha!”

As the maniacal laughter swirled around him, Butler burst into tears and floated away to the corner.

“You’re hired.” Betrayus grinned. “The Pac Man is DOOMED!”

…

Fuzbits charged valiantly towards his target, taking a daring leap with his jaws stretched wide open!… and promptly fell on his face, missing his change to take a bite out of the banana shaped mechanical leg of Sir C’s vehicle.

“I know that the Pac-nana looks delicious, Fuzbits,” The scientist cooed to his monstrous pet as he continued on forwarded. “but I’m afraid you might chip a tooth eating the vehicle.”

Fuzbits paid no mind to this warning as he snarled and charged again.

“Or not…”

Meanwhile, Grinder, who was leading the brigade wearing an entana device on his nose that looked suspiciously like a pig snout, beeped unhappily.

“Yo-ho! Stop grumbling, Grinder!” Sir Cumfrence chuckled. “With any luck, this experimental portal finder will help us locate where the latest rampaging ghosts are entering Pac World.”

It seemed that after the initial door was opened, the ghosts had regained some sort of connection to Pac World because, even after they were sealed up again, the ghosts continued to blow new portals into existence and continue their attacks. Knowing this, Sir C had little hope concerning locking them away forever anymore. But he hoped that locating and perhaps even closing the portal may give them an edge in their battles to come.

Grinder’s antenna whirled around quickly and the robot followed the signal to the face of one of the hedges in the maze, his momentum carrying him face first into it.

“Success!” Sir C cheered. “My device has located… a rotten slice of pizza?”

Grinder, who had picked up the slice in question to show his creator, gaged at the smell wafting off of it. The inventor sighed.

“Apparently there are still a few bugs to work out on the portal detector.”

Fuzbits then dashed forward and jumped up to eat the pizza, wrapping his mouth around Grinder’s claw in the process. The robot tried to shake the creature off and emerged from the experience with a slobber covered appendage. Fuzbits then belched and sent him flying backwards.

Sir Cumfrence smiled at the endearing display but his expression was quickly replaced with fear when a tentacle ghost emerged from behind the shrubbery. He gasped.

“Perhaps it’s working better than I thought…”

The ghost reared its ugly head and lunged.

…

Skeebo had not let up by the end of class and was continuing his torment into PE. Pac felt like an even bigger mess as he shuffled into the gym in a uniform that he was mortified to find was slightly too small. He winced at the way his gym shorts squeezed his sides into a muffin top. Maybe Skeebo wouldn’t notice? Maybe he was too focused on the zits?

Pac panted after completing his laps. He didn’t even seem to notice that he was faster than usual. Instead, he was beating himself up about how the sweat had messed up his hair, washed away his under eye makeup, and would definitely cause more zits. As if on cute, he felt another sore spot on his chin.

“I thought I’d just need to add more zits, but this keeps getting better and better!” Skeebo cackled.

Pac and the rest of the runners looked to where Skeebo was standing and sketched next to the rest of the second group waiting to race with a sadistic smile. Pac shrunk in on himself, thinking about which features Skeebo was currently depicting on the unflattering portrait. Pac covered the zit on his cheek with a hand.

“Maybe you should worry about your OWN looks, Skeebo.” Spiral sneered. “Because if you don’t start cutting Pac some slack, I’m gonna BREAK them.”

“Besides!” Cyli added. “I’d like to see anyone here deal better with the stress of being a one man army to protect YOUR sorry ass!”

“Show of hands!” Spiral finished off. “Who here has ever saved the city from a ghost attack?”

Cyli and Spiral raised their hands but everyone else’s remained lowered. Spiral also proceeded to grab Pac’s hand off his face and raise it into the air, much to the boy’s embarrassment. Skeebo grit his teeth in irritation, a face he always made when reminded of Pac’s service to their world. But a nasty grin split across his face again soon after.

“How about another show of hands?” Skeebo said. “Raise your hand if you’ve ever eaten an army of ghosts and THEN eaten all the food in the cafeteria like a fat pig?”

Pac’s blush spread across his entire face as the room hissed. Even they could tell that was a bit too far (though not uncommonly so). He wrenched his hand back down and crossed his arms over his body, willing himself to start shrinking until no one could see him anymore. His eyes popped open again in panic but not at Skeebo’s obnoxious laughter. He could hear Spiral start to growl.

“Skeebo…”

“Oh! Raise your hand if you’re a FREAK that makes your FREAKISH appetite everyone else’s problem!?”

“Skeebo stop!”

“Or what? You-”

“SKEEBO RUN!”

Skeebo finally realized what Pac’s pleading had been for as Spiral started sprinting towards him with murder in his eyes. Skeebo squealed and started running in the opposite direction as Pac and Cyli tried to stop their friend.

“Oh shit!” Rhomba, a purple sports enthusiast, exclaimed and began running towards the tall red boy as well.

Several other kids converged on Spiral and began dogpiling him in order to prevent their classmate from committing homicide. Several athletes like tall long legged Issen, sturdy football player Tex, and hoverboarding Corkscrew were at the brunt of this but a few less able bodied students joined as well. Shy knitting Angie, bookworm Sheldon, and skinny Sherry all came to help as well, just long enough for Skeebo to hide behind their teacher.

“What is going on here!?” Mr. Dome asked, his red facing going even redder in confusion.

“So sorry, sir.” Pac grunted from near the bottom of the pile. “We just… there’s just…” His watch beeped. “… We’d love to explain but duty calls!”

Pac struggled to stand up, thus dispersing the dogpile and walking away to take the call.

“Saved by the bell.” He sighed. “What’s up Sir Cumfrence?

Pac squinted at the image. The image of the scientist was very close up and violently shaking. There also appeared to be some kind of goo in his hair.

“You look kinda funny.” Pac stated. “Like I should talk…”

“Uh, Pac lad.” Sir C said in a warbly worried tone. “I would appreciate a little assistance.”

Cyli and Spiral peaked over his shoulder and they all realized at once that the reason for the doctor’s strange appearance was because there was a tentacle ghost trying to eat his head.

“There seems to be an infestation in the maze.”

There was a loud buzzing sound as Sir C pulled out a homemade taser in the shape of a rod and thrust it into the ghost, disrupting its physical form enough for it to burst into slime, leaving a disgruntled pair of eyeballs and a mess.

“It’s a little too much slime for me to handle on my own so…” he looked up as more ghosts appeared over the horizon. “Please get here quick.”

Pac’s eyes widened in fear at the sight and then watched before his eyes as a zit appeared on the tip of his nose.

“Aw man! This stress is like a zit factory!” He cried, grabbing at his hair after he clicked off the call.

“Yeah.” Skeebo snickered, having fully recovered from his scare and beginning to sketch on his device again.

Pac just gave him a despondent look while Spiral seethed and Cyli tried to hold him back. The three of them then headed for the exit.

“Gobble a ghosht for me, Pac!” Sherry called after them as she picked herself up off the floor.

…

Sir C was really struggling to keep the ghosts at bay. Every time he lifted his PSC, he found that he could only hold it steady for a few moments before his old arms started to let out. Fuzzbits was at the man’s feet, furiously barking at any ghost that dared approach his person. The ghosts merely dodged the blasts and cackled at his attempts to defend himself. One ghost in particular swooped down to attack the old man… but didn’t get very far before Pac intercepted it, teeth first. The ghost barely had the opportunity to scream as it disappeared down Pac’s throat. The boy’s feet hit the ground hard as Cyli and Spiral rolled onto the scene, sending out much better aimed blasts at the ghosts above. Fuzzbit’s cheered at the arrival of his favorite people. But when Pac turned around to reveal his zit covered face, the monster squeaked.

“My, that is an impressive array.” Sir Cumfrence stated, though there was no tone of disgust. “Is it class picture day?”

Pac gave him a slumped, glum look for an answer, standing there in his sweaty gym clothes. And that was before the ghosts began laughing.

“Woah! Didn’t take heros for slobs!” A cyclops cackled. “Looks like we’ll have to change his name to the PUSS Man!”

More mean spirited laughter. Pac almost seemed shocked.

“A guy can’t catch a break today.” He sighed.

Without another word, he flicked his dispenser open and ate an ice berry. The cold feeling was refreshing as it replaced the coat of stale sweat that previously covered him with what felt like a winter breeze. But his acne had not changed colors with the rest of him and almost looked even MORE red and irritated. Pac poked at his face in disgust before taking to the skys. Spiral whooped as he shot another ghost out of the sky.

“Chow time! Get ‘em, Pac!”

Pac did as he was told and zoomed towards them. The ghosts seemed unbothered.

“Oh, is ZIT that time already?” The cyclops ghost asked, looking at his nonexistent watch. “Is ZIT?”

One fire ghost cackled so loudly that it didn’t even realize how close Pac had gotten. It disappeared with a yelp as Pac bit down a bit more violently than usual.

“Not funny.” He insisted, glaring at the ghost.

He was so busy trying to disintegrate the bully with the sheer power of his mind that he realized a moment too late that a ghost was lunging for Sir Cumfrence again. Pac shot a blast of ice out of instinct… but he didn’t realize how close the ghost had gotten. It swiveled out of the way and Pac covered his mouth in horror. Sir C yelped as his leg was encased in ice. Thankfully, Cyli and Spiral were on it. Cyli immediately PSC’d the ghost out of the sky and then grabbed another fire ghost out of the air. Completely foregoing all her weaponry, she simply used her own strength to wrestle the ghost to the ground and force it to gentilly thaw out the scientist’s leg. The man immediately relaxed and Spiral scooped him off the ground, deciding that the old war hero had gone through enough that day.

“Hey, Pacster!” Spiral called.

Pac turned to face him, still a little shaken by his own blunder. 

“Score one for the team!”

Cyli, still having the ghost in a choke hold, understood what Spiral was planning and threw the ghost in his direction. The taller of the two then expertly soccer kicked it into the air and towards Pac. His eyes narrowed and he shot a blast of ice at it, encasing it in a crystal of solid water before it could even try to blast him back. He chomped down with a satisfying crunch but the satisfaction was short lived. Pac found that fire ghosts were his least favorite because they always caused a ruckus in his insides whenever he ate them. He had hoped the ice would counteract this effect, and it did. But it also created a completely new one. He yelped and clutched his head.

“Brain freeze!” He winced, forcing the top of his tough violently against his pallet to try and ease the pain.

He didn’t even know this was possible in ice mode, but he supposed that, since the world had it out for him today, it only made sense.

“Think THAT hurts, puss face?” The loudmouth cyclops asked.

Pac was still recovering from the brain freeze when the ghost reeled up for a punch. He didn’t even have the sense to open his mouth and suck him down and instead just braced to be hit… and he was. The ghost’s fist slammed against his face and he was pushed back. Pac nursed his sore cheek in pain and was just about to turn around to return the favor… when the ghost spoke again.

“Gross!” The ghost complained. “Aw, I can’t believe I just touched that! Nasty!”

“… What?” Pac said, lowering his guard.

“Did you see him wobble, too?!” One of the other ghosts joined in. “Dude’s a total blubber ball!”

“Makes sense.” Another added. “The fat pig gets paid to eat us all day and then stuffs his face all on his own! Lucky he isn’t the size of a blimp, he is!”

Pac’s eyes were wide. The ghosts were forming a circle around him and he was too shocked to do anything but just… let them.

“What a slob!”

“This dude stinks! Does he EVER shower?”

“Those eye bags are big enough to carry all my stuff on a year long trip!”

“Gross!”

“Fat!”

“FREAK!”

“Oh my overlords, he’s CRYING!” 

The ghosts cackled and Pac touched his face to see if they were right. They weren’t. He wasn’t crying. But damn was he close.

Even ghosts were grossed out by him? Even ghosts could notice all the things he hated about himself? If even ghosts could reinforce everything that he KNEW was wrong with him… maybe he should stop trying to pretend they weren’t right.

Pac spun around quickly and blasted all the ghosts into ice cubes. The laughing stopped and they all floated to the floor as his ice berry wore off. He didn’t even bother to eat them. He just picked a direction and flew off, ignoring the cries of his friends for him to come back. 

Eventually, he breached the maze and the residual effects of the berry wore off. He crashed to the ground in the middle of the sidewalk, once again dressed in too tight gym gear.

“Pac Man!” He heard a civilian cheer.

Pac seized up and scraped himself off the ground so he could walk away before he realized who the owner of that voice was. Soon enough, a microphone was shoved under his nose and a camera into his face. Time froze as he realized a crowd was accumulating around him, hoping to hear the story of his latest battle. But before the reporter could even begin to ask him that question, something else popped out.

“Oh my…”

Pac’s acne riddled face contorted in pain. He wanted his hoodie. He wanted to zip it up and pocket his hands and pull the hood up and hide in it. He wanted to smash that camera with its blinking red light to pieces and then do the same to every other camera in the area that was pointed at him. He wanted to run.

“Leave me alone!” Was the least explosive thing he managed to croak out.

Then he shoved past them and sprinted towards the school.

As his heart hammered in his ears, Pac fumbled with his dispenser for anything. An invisibility berry. A shrink berry. A berry to turn him into something completely unrecognizable. A berry to make him stop existing all together. But nothing. Not even a speed berry. And so he raced through the halls of maze prep, bumping into his irritated or concerned schoolmates as he scrambled for his destination. He couldn’t hear any of the grunts or concerned calls of his name around him. Even if his ears weren’t ringing, his breathing was too loud. His vision was blurry. He felt dizzy. He felt the horrible churning in his guts he always got whenever his stomach was warning him that he needed to release the squirming eyeballs inside it. The nauseated feeling churned within him, forcing him to almost slow to a stop. For a moment, he thought he might actually puke for real this time. And then Skeebo stepped in front of him, said some words he couldn’t understand with a shit eating grin, and the floodgates opened.

Seeing the horrified look on Skeebo’s face as he was covered in the contents of his ghost filled stomach was almost worth it. But it was too humiliating to focus on. What he was focused on instead was the fact that he hadn’t belched that time. There had been a small rumbling of gas in his throat at the start but he actually gagged. The eyeballs slipped out of him in a slimy mess of multi-colored slime and drool. This wasn’t the first time it had happened. His eyeball evacuations were always a little messy when he didn’t have a handle on them. But that wasn’t the point. Pac took one look at the supernatural mess he’d left on his bully and sobbed. Finally he could hear the commotion around him as several of his peers approached. He didn’t give them the opportunity to get any closer than a few feet.

Pac dashed into the change room and no amount of pleading outside the door could get him to come out that time.

…

Betrayus’s ghost army was seated in an auditorium, screeching with laughter as they watched Pac run through the school on various slug cams. All except four. The ghost gang watched in horror as their friend had a nervous breakdown on screen. They watched as Pac vomited in front of a crowded hall and had to look away as if the image burned them. They couldn’t bear it. They couldn’t bear listening to their peer’s delight at their friend’s suffering. Especially since it was THEIR FAULT. When Clyde started to choke on a sob, his friends grabbed him and sank into the floor.

…

“This is all your fault, Inky!” Pinky roared.

The slimmest of the bunch careened backwards at the sight of his friend’s glare. Clyde was weeping in the background with Blinky’s arms wrapped around him. It was a rare sight. The de facto leader rarely doled out affection to his teammates. But he seemed completely unwilling to move from this position as he stood with his cheek pressed against the big guy’s shoulder.

“You couldn’t shut up, could you!? You couldn’t just cut it out with the stupid jokes! Do you know what might have happened if you said that to his face!?”

“My stupid jokes saved our tails!” Inky argued. “Can you imagine what would have happened if Lord B overheard us talkin’ about how WORRIED we were about his ARCH NEMESIS!? We would have-!”

“I! DON’T! CARE! What he would have done to us!” Pinky told him. “Pac is having a panic attack in the locker room!”

“Well sor-RY!” Inky said. He was holding himself nonchalantly. Throwing his head back, rolling his eyes. As if he didn’t see what the big deal was. As if the guilt of that reality wasn’t currently eating him up inside. “You were never this agro when I pointed out YOU’RE-”

“IT STILL HURT!”

Inky flinched back again. Globs of pink ectoplasm beaded out of her eyes.

“JUST BECAUSE I DIDN’T BITE YOUR HEAD OFF FOR IT DOESN’T MEAN IT DIDN’T HURT! JUST BECAUSE I DIDN’T IMMEDIATELY START BAWLING MY EYES OUT WHEN YOU MENTIONED IT DOESN’T MEAN I DIDN’T WANT TO! THERE IS A TIME AND PLACE FOR JOKING ABOUT THE THINGS THAT YOU DON’T LIKE ABOUT YOURSELF! AND IF YOU CAN’T TELL WHEN THAT IS THEN MAYBE YOU SHOULD JUST SHUT UP ABOUT OTHER PEOPLE’S BODIES!”

Clyde wailed. Not just his usual wail. His voice cracked all the way through. It was raw and broken. His friend’s turned to him in shock. They had only ever heard that wail once before.

“We ruined it!” Clyde wailed. “We hurt him! We hurt him AGAIN! He’ll leave us! He SHOULD leave us! We’re bad! I’m BAD! We deserve it! We deserve all of it!”

Before any of his friends could descend on him with as much comfort as they could muster, he ran off. 

“Clyde!”

They all followed him as fast as they could.

…

When Pac finally opened the door, he expected the soft knocking to have been from Cyli and Spiral. He was slightly shocked to find Sir Cumfrence and Fuzzbits standing in the doorway. The little monster immediately jumped up as high as he could and Pac’s arms instinctively cradled around him, snuggling the fluffy creature into his clean shirt. He actually didn’t look too much like a mess. He had showered and changed when in the changeroom. That wasn’t to say that his skin wasn't covered in even more red blotches though, some of which weren’t even zits. Some of it was just from how viciously he had scrubbed at himself in the shower… as if he was trying to wash his own skin off. Sir C stayed silent for a moment and let Pac hug Fuzzbits. Then he gentily curled an arm around his shoulder and began leading him away.

“… M’sorry I hit you…” Pac mumbled.

“Nothing of it, Pac.” The scientist said back.

He barely even had a limp. And even if he did, it wouldn’t have stopped him one bit.

…

“… Has it ever gotten this bad?” Cyli asked her taller friend.

“Never.” Spiral said. “Not in four whole years of knowing him. He’d get mopey once a yellow moon but I always assumed it was because of OTHER PEOPLE. I never guessed that he…” he put a hand over his eye. “Why does he have to be so good at hiding this stuff? Is it me? Does he not trust me?”

“It’s not about trust.” Cyli told him. “He KNOWS you care about him. He KNOWS you’ll get worried. That’s why he didn’t tell you.”

“That’s stupid.”

“And you’ve never done the same thing?”

“… Shut up.”

They spared a very short laugh. Then it was silent again.

Cyli and Spiral had gladly cleaned up the frozen ghosts for him. Afterwards, they had wanted to rush to Pac’s side, biting the heads off of anyone who dared even look at him funny. Sir C intercepted them before they had the chance. He told them to let him take care of it. They didn’t want to, not one bit. But they didn’t argue and instead opted to excuse themselves and Pac from the rest of the day’s classes on the grounds of having to close a portal to the Nether. Their teachers easily let them off the hook. Afterall, a short video of Pac telling the press to leave him alone was already on the internet (and was currently being taken down per the president’s orders). And so they simply stood near the entrance of the maze, standing guard in case any more ghosts came through. The ghosts that did appear weren’t quite the one’s they were expecting though. They totally didn’t expect for a large orange ghost to burst out of a hedge and start sobbing at their feet.

“Clyde?” Spiral said, bewildered.

Cyli immediately fell to her knees to console him when the rest of their friends burst through the leaves as well.

“We’re sorry!” Clyde cried. “We’re so so sorry! We won’t do it again! We’ll do better! Please don’t leave!”

“Woah Woah, buddy.” Spiral begged. “What are you talking about? Why are you sorry?”

“It was me.” Inky said.

They all turned to the blue ghost in surprise, other ghosts included. Pinky and Blinky hadn’t noticed the state their friend was in as they followed Clyde. His glow was dimmer. His expression was vacant. They hadn’t seen him look like that in very very long.

“I… was making… I made a stupid joke about Pac’s zit and Betrayus heard me…” Inky said. “And then I-”

“Lord B asked us to explain.” Blinky said, voice strong but shame filled. “So I explained. And then a few minutes later we heard word for all the meanest ghosts in the Netherworld to go to the palace.”

“We ALL told him.” Pinky said, tears welling up in her eyes. “This is our fault… we’re sorry.”

“Guys… oh man…” Cyli said, putting a hand to her head. “You gotta be more careful.”

“We know.” Blinky said. “But… maybe we… can’t….”

Spiral looked at them funny.

“What?”

“We tried.” Blinky said. “We really tried to help you guys. But THREE TIMES. Three times out of the four we’ve tried to help and we just made everything worse.” By this point, Clyde wasn’t the only ghost in tears. “Pac is having a panic attack in a locker room because of us. Pac almost hurt you and then BLAMED HIMSELF for it because of us. You all almost DIED because of us.” Blinky bit his lip. “Maybe it’s because you care about us too much. We got to know you too well, got too involved in your personal lives. Maybe we should just-”

“Ratatatata!” Spiral sudenly shrilled. The ghosts all floated backwards in confusion. “You slimey little PEA BRAINED dorks better not be about to say what my mama bear instincts are telling me you’re about to say!”

Blinky blinked. He wasn’t quiet sure how to answer that.

“…Uh.”

“No!” Spiral cut him off. “We WILL NOT allow you to spy for us if you aren’t checking in regularly to be our friends. You think you’re being lousy spies? Fine, you’re fired. Now let’s go get you your bodies back.”

“No!” The ghost gang hollered.

“Then TOO BAD!” Spiral continued. “You should of thought of that before you befriended MY loyal ass! I am Aunty Spiral and you are all my precious little ghostly babies so if I see you talking bad about yourselves ever again I WILL tickle the shit out of you REGARDLESS of whether or not your incorporeal asses can feel it!”

“What… that’s not…” Blinky was perplexed.

Inky was still looking dull and like he’d given up but he couldn’t resist a chuckle at Spirel’s outburst.

“Don’t you dare laugh, he’s absolutely right.” Cyli said, shooting the blue ghost a glare while officially pulling Clyde into a hug. She didn’t even shiver as the orange slime squished against her. “If you wanna be our spies you also have to be our friends. It’s the law because I said so.”

“Why… but…- we hurt your best friend!” Blinky said. “TWICE since officially becoming your spies!”

“I hurt him too!” Cyli said, putting a slime covered hand to her slime covered chest. “Do you not remember the REAL reason Pac was so upset?”

“Life with Pac is complicated and messy, ESCPECIALLY when you throw a ruthless warlord into the mix!” Spiral continued. “It’s no one’s fault, it just sucks! And the only way to make it suck a little less is to stick together!”

They were all baffled.

“Wh-… why are you sticking your necks out so far for us?” Clyde whimpered. “We’re BAD-”

“No, you’re CHILDREN.” Cyli cut him off. “You’re all OUR AGE. You’re our age and you were drafted into a war by a tyrant. It’s bad enough that PAC and by extension WE do this by choice. But you really expect me to believe that you WANTED to be fighting in a war at that age? Even if you did, that would have been because no one taught you. It would’ve been because the world that was supposed to protect you FAILED. You. Were. Children. You never should have been executed with the rest of Betrayus’s army in the first place. You’re STILL children because you were killed for being child soldiers. And you know what? That is the single worst tragedy that came out of that whole shit show.”

The ghosts were all gobsmacked. Before they had enough time to process Cyli’s words, Spiral scooped Inky, Blinky, and Pinky into his arms and slumped down next to Cyli and Clyde.

“Pac is damaged goods.” Spiral told them. “He lost his parents, his body is different, he stands out in a crowd no matter how hard he tries not to. The whole world makes him their personal freak show without a single care in the world for him and now he’s suddenly responsible for keeping it safe. And to make matters worse, he’s the last of his kind which means no one will ever understand how much it sucks to be him. He’s hurt. We’re all here because we want to help him to not hurt so much anymore. And it’s HARD. It’s hard to mess up so often and feel like there’s nothing you can do about it other than accidentally make it worse. But you all know Pac. You all know it’s worth it. Don’t you?”

The ghosts all nodded, their faces involuntarily curling into their friends. And they all cried. For the first time in over a decade, they all wept openly.

…

“I don’t wanna talk about it.” Pac mumbled.

“Well that’s too bad because we’re gonna.” Sir C said entirely too cheerfully as he handed the boy an industrial sized bowl of chili.

Pac accepted it but put it on the table in order to keep his lap free for Fuzzbits. The scientist had wasted no time ushering Pac into his lab and getting him snuggled up on the couch. Fuzzbits, who had never left his arms, gladly curled up on his lap as soon as he sat down. The yellow boy, almost defiantly, scratched the monster’s head to avoid looking anywhere near Sir Cumfrence.

“So…” he began. “Do you wanna tell me what all that was about or should I just guess?”

“There’s nothing to say!” Pac insisted. “I overreacted okay? It was embarrassing. End of story.”

“A panic attack is never an overreaction.”

“It wasn’t a panic attack.”

“Were you scared?”

“I guess-”

“Shaking?”

“I mean-”

“Feeling disoriented? Nauseous?”

Pac didn’t respond. He simply looked down at his lap in silence. Then he ran a hand through his hair.

“Of all the things to have a panic attack over…” he mumbled to himself, closing his eyes as his head flopped against the back of the couch. “Fuckin’ pathetic.”

Sir C didn’t even raise an eyebrow at the boy’s out-of-character swearing. He did, however, have something to say about the boy’s choice of words for describing himself.

“Pac, I will not have you badmouthing yourself for something that clearly causes you a lot of stress. It doesn't matter WHAT it is, if it’s troubling you it needs to be resolved-”

“I threw a tantrum because a bunch of ghosts said mean things about how I look!” Pac said. “That is some toddler level shit right there! And you can’t “resolve” all of THIS.” He gestured at himself, cringing at his body in disgust.

“And why did it upset you so much?” Sir C asked.

“Because I hear it every single day!” Pac shouted. “Because, even though they don’t say it out loud as much anymore, I know they’re still thinking it! Wow, look at that guy, he’s yellow! Damn, that kid’s a mess. He’s really short! His hands and feet are huge! That hero guy sure is fat! I KNOW! I’ve known since the moment I could understand why the grownups on the playground were whispering so much and why Aunt Spheria got so mad at them for it! I’m sick of people pointing it out like it’s some grand discovery! I KNOW!”

“What do you know, Pac?”

“That people don’t like how I look! I DON’T EITHER!” He shouted. He squeezed his eyes shut and gritted his teeth together. “They think I don’t hate it too? They think I don’t hate how my massive hands and feet make me look even shorter? That my gut sticks out way too far? I hate how I look!” His voice cracked. “I hate my skin cuz it keeps pointing me out to everyone! I should be proud of being yellow but I’m not cuz it makes everyone look at me and I don’t want them to look at me! I hate my hair cuz it insists on staying in this weird ass shape! I hate my mouth cuz I keep fake smiling at everything and it just draws attention to how much I eat! I hate my nose cuz it makes me look like mom-” he choked and started sobbing again, covering his eyes with his hand. “And that’s so selfish… I love my mom. She was beautiful. I love hearing that I look so much like her but I also can’t stand it. I hate looking at myself and seeing so much of my mom in me but still hating it so much. How is that fair to her? She was beautiful. So why am I so…” he choked again. “None of this should even matter. I hate that it matters to me so much…”

The room was silent for a moment. The yellow boy silently wept as Fuzzbits cooed again and sat up to snuggle deeper into Pac’s chest. Pac began petting him again.

“… Well it seems to me you’ve had a lot of time to think about this.” Sir Cumfrence said. “You hit a lot spot on, my boy. But there’s one big detail you’ve got completely backwards.”

Pac raised his puffy eyes to the scientist, if only because he was curious about what he was gonna say. Sir C leaned in, his face kind and soft.

“It is not selfish to feel that way, Pac.” He practically whispered. “Not one little bit. It’s not stupid, it’s not an overreaction, it’s not immature. It’s the unfortunate build up of years of casual mistreatment from the people around you that you never should have had to face and that I’m so sorry we couldn’t protect you from. You have the right to feel this way… but you also deserve to love yourself. You’re beautiful, Pac. No matter what you weigh, no matter how tall you are, no matter how tired you are, no matter what color you are, no matter how much acne you have. That’s what I see. But, you know what? It doesn’t even matter what I see. All that matters is what you see. And until you can manage to see it for yourself… know that how you look is the least important thing about you. Now I’m not gonna list all the things I love about you cuz I simply don’t have time, but you’re a wonder, Pac. At the very least, you’ve gotta be able to see that.”

Before Pac could even stare at the scientist for more than a few seconds, Sir C’s watch beeped.

“Oh dear,” He said as he rose to his feet. “It seems that’s all the time I have. There are blankets on the bed and you know where the sink is if you need some water.”

“Where are you going?” Pac asked in a voice he tried very hard to prevent from cracking.

“My sensors are detecting more energy from the portal- and don’t even think about it.” Sir Cumfrence pointed at the boy as he was about to rise to his feet. “You stay here until you’re ready. ACTUALLY ready to face the world again. And you take all the time you need, my boy. I can handle myself just fine.”

Pac watched miserably as the green man marched out the door. The yellow boy slumped in his seat and defeatedly reached for the chilly.

…

“If a team of wise guys were enough to stress Pac out, how about a whole army!” Betrayus bellowed gleefully.

Said army of spiteful specters were leering in front of the portal. The multicolored ghosts all pooled through the portal, as certain of their victory as their master.

…

Once again, Sir C was trudging through the maze with Grinder, who was still very unhappy about the device on his head.

“Come on now,” his creator told him. “That portal isn’t gonna find itself.”

That statement was technically true. But that wasn’t the same to say for its inhabitants.

…

Pac did end up eating the chilly because he couldn’t help himself. As he was licking his lips, he sighed and pinched belly… to which Fuzzbits growled and chomped down on his hand.

“Hey!” Pac exclaimed.

It didn’t hurt. It was barely even a bite, more like grabbing it with his mouth. It sent a very clear message of “No! Don’t do that!”

“Come on!” Pac whined as he lifted his hand up and Fuzzbits dangled off of it. He then grabbed him by the leg and dangled the monster upside down. “I know you don’t get it cuz you're just a little critter but you’d hate it too if you were in my shoes.”

Fuzzbits violently shook his head and then wriggled out of Pac’s grip. He promptly fell right onto Pac’s soft middle and snuggled in again, almost definitely. Pac supposed he should have found that cute and maybe given a little laugh. But instead he just sighed and tilted his head up at the ceiling.

“I give up,” He mumbled.

Then the door was kicked down (how? It was an electronic sliding door). 

“No! Way!” Spiral protested as he marched into the room.

He was closely followed by Inky, Blinky, Pinky, Clyde, and Cyli. The six friends all flooded into the lab and stood in front of Pac. The boy was utterly baffled.

“First of all, WHAT exactly are you giving up on?” Spiral pressed. “Cuz it sure as hell isn’t yourself, I’ll tell you that!”

Pac’s wide eyes drooped. He simply looked off to the side and slumped even further.

“You can’t stop me…” he mumbled, defiantly.

“Like hell I can!”

Cyli had to physically restrain him from doing… something. Punching Pac in the face with friendship perhaps?

“Pac, despite what Spiral’s antics might lead you to believe, we’re not mad at you for having these feelings,” Cyli told him. “But why didn’t you tell us? I told you, I wanna be here for you, no matter what it is you’re going through. We all do.”

“I didn’t tell you cuz it’s stupid and I’m not really interested in pointing out all the things that suck in my life,” Pac mumbled. “I don’t need to talk about it.”

“It’s not about needing it's about helping!” Spiral insisted. “You’re obsessed with helping other people but you never let ME help YOU! You’re not protecting us from your feelings, Pac, you’re just punishing yourself and making us watch you fall apart! When are you going to get it through your head that we’re here to stay?”

“That’s WHY I don’t talk about it!” Pac cried back. “You think I don’t know how much you care about me?! You think I don’t notice how crazy it is that I somehow managed to stumble upon SIX WHOLE PEOPLE that think I’m worth all my trouble?! I’m terrified of losing that! THIS—” he gestured at himself and this whole situation. “— isn’t even the half of it! This isn’t even CLOSE to how much baggage I’ve got! You say you’re here to stay NOW but how am I supposed to trust that you’ll still wanna be around me once you figure out how much I’m hurting!? I KNOW you love me and want to see me stop hurting! But I don’t know if I can!” Pac put his head in his hands. “And I don’t wanna disappoint you… I don’t want all our friendship to be you guys picking up my broken pieces…”

“… That’s not fair.”

Pac wasn’t the only one to look up in confusion. Everyone did. Everyone turned to Cyli as she practically glared at Pac.

“That’s not fair!” She shouted. “You had NO PROBLEM picking up my pieces! Hell, you jumped at the opportunity! You froze like a deer in headlights when I pointed you out to the whole school and you STILL jumped to my rescue and comforted me after my breakup! That’s not fair, Pac! You aren’t allowed to go around helping everyone like that if you won’t let others help you! You are SUCH a fucking hypocrite!”

Pac didn’t think he’d ever heard someone try to cheer someone up by screaming at them that they were a hypocrite before. He was too stunned to speak.

“… Speaking of which…” Pinky spoke up.

Everyone turned to the little pink ghost in anticipation.

“I’d like to describe a scene for you all,” she stated. “Specifically the one that was constantly plastered on my face when I was alive.”

Pac was confused at what she meant. Then his eyes widened slightly.

“I had stubborn, puffy, cystic acne when I had my body.” She admitted. “All over my face, it would NOT let up. You couldn’t tell where my zits ended and my face began.”

She was smiling through all of this. They had not expected her to smile. Pinky took pride in how she looked. Pac had thought she would rather die than admit something like that. Especially to him.

“I constantly stank when I had my body,” Blinky told him. “I was always greasy and covered in dirt. After all, I had a troop to take care of. No time to shower.”

“I developed insomnia during the war,” Inky admitted. “I’d be lucky if I got in three hours a night during weekends. My eye bags were legendary.”

“And I had quite a rotund figure when I was alive,” Clyde finished off. “To put it quite simply… I was fat.”

“Now there are two reasons we’re telling you this,” Blinky began again. “The first one being that… not a day goes by that we don’t wish we were back in those pimply, smelly, tired, fat bodies again. Were we conventionally attractive? Fuck no, we were slimey little teenagers.”

Cyli chuckled lightly. Spiral simply smiled.

“But we were beautiful,” Blinky stated. “And even though we definitely THOUGHT there were things we wanted to change about them… they were our bodies. And we loved them… Secondly, I dare you to look us in the eyes and tell us that you would have thought we were ugly for having those features.”

Pac couldn’t respond. He could only stare, mouth agape.

“Hypocrite,” Pinky smirked.

Pac’s eyes dashed around the group. None of this had been particularly eye opening. He knew all those things. He knew he was being silly, he knew he’d never judge anyone else for the things he judged himself for… but something else occurred to him. They saw. They all saw him in the worst place he’d ever allowed himself to be seen in infront of other people… and they were still here. He yelled at them for trying to help and they were still here. He spouted off about insecurities that the ghost gang had personally felt the sting of, no doubt ripping open old wounds, and they were still here. And… he would have been too. Of course he’d want to help someone as hurting as he was. 

Pac laughed. He slumped into his seat and laughed. Spiral plopped down next to him on the couch and hugged the boy. Cyli joined not long after. Inky, Blinky, Pinky, and Clyde huddled around them as well. Pac laughed. He laughed because it was absurd. Why was he the exception? Why was he the only person that didn’t deserve support? He wasn’t.

Pac, Cyli, and Spiral’s watches beeped. They all knew what the issue was. Sir C.

“Let’s go,” Pac said, handing Clyde Fuzzbits and standing up.

“Pac-” Spiral protested.

“You’d be rushing to his aid too if it were you,” Pac shot back. “I get to help people if I let you help me. You said it yourself.”

“That’s not what I meant!”

“Hypocrite,” Pac snarked.

Spiral’s jaw dropped in offense. Pac smirked and ran off while Cyli cackled with laughter and chased him out the door. Spiral wasn’t far behind.

…

Running into the maze to find it swarming with ghosts was becoming exceedingly less odd. Once again, Sir C was taking cover and trying to fight off the spectors with little luck. A ghost took a swing at the scientist and Pac grit his teeth before beginning to charge. A pair of cyclops ghosts cut him off with evil smirks

“Well if it isn’t the Pac Pustule!” One of them sneered.

Pac stared for a moment. He could practically feel his friends glaring at the ghosts, even though his back was turned to them. The yellow boy grinned.

“Yup. That’s me.”

The cyclops’s blinked in surprise.

“I… huh?” One questioned.

“Uh… okay. What if we called ya’ slimy? Greasy. Fat. Eye bags McGee?”

“I don’t care what you call me,” Pac informed the ghosts. His eyes narrowed as a toothy smile spread across his face. “As long as you don’t call me, late for lunch…”

The ghosts shivered in terror as the boy licked his lips threateningly and then charged. 

One cool thing about being down on yourself all day, Pac discovered, was that he now had so much energy to use on productive venting. That venting being to not show a single ounce of mercy to these ghosts and eat them without hesitation. He zoomed through the air and all the ghosts began panicking and trying to flee. Pac promptly began flying around them in a sphere, blocking any path of escape. He slowly chipped away at the army until there was only a stray few left. Those ones began running for the hills and Pac and his friends gladly followed them.

The team raced after the spectors, twisting and turning through the maze until, finally, they saw it. A large purple swirling portal in the ground that the ghosts dived into.

…

“Vat are you doing!?” Buttocks cried as the ghosts poured in. “You vill lead ze Pac Man right to us!”

The scientist quickly flew to his machine and furiously began smashing buttons.

…

The portal closed right before their eyes. Pac slid to a stop in front of it.

“What the heck??” He questioned, squatting down to pat the ground. 

“I didn’t know portals could just… vanish,” Spiral said, scratching his head. 

“They can’t!” Pac cried. “They shouldn’t ! Portals are rips in the fabric of our worlds, they shouldn’t be able to just disappear like that!”

“Naturally forming portals, yes,” Sir C said, servaying the area with his portal detector. “But I doubt now that there was anything natural about this portal.” He tucked the device away. “Come now. I’ll explain on the way back.”

The kids began to follow him. The ghost gang joined them not long after.

“Now normally a portal might open or heal up naturally but this happens over the course of hundreds and hundreds of years. We had to use some ancient techniques to seal up the portal in the ghost temple but even then it was more like a bandaid. When you closed it again, I guess you more stitched it up since they can’t use it anymore,” Sir C explained.

“So they’re making the portals artificially now?” Cyli asked. “How? And why are they only doing it now?”

“Probably somethin’ to do with how they couldn’t before,” Cumfrence went on. “Here’s the thing about ghosts. They’re first and foremost inhabitants of the nether world. When a ghost spends more than a day or two in Pac World, they’ll simply pop out of existence and respawn back in their infernal home. Even though their souls are from Pac World. They have a connection to both but the longer a ghost stays solely in the nether, the weaker that connection becomes. By the time they had the technology to open up portals, it was useless because they had no way to target our world in particular. But due to their more recent escape, their connection to our world is stronger and they can use that as coordinates to get here.”

“Is that how you guys get here?” Cyli asked the ghosts floating next to her. “By sneaking through the portal machine?”

“No way,” Pinky said.

“Way too risky,” Inky agreed.

“We’ve cultivated our own way of making small leaps through the void,” Clyde told them.

“Betrayus and Doctor Buttbrain think you need a big ol’ machine to rip a hole between worlds but all you really need to travel through them is a little intuition,” Blinky smirked.

“… And the bauble that Inky swiped out of Dr Hineyhead’s lab helps too,” Pink said.

Inky shrugged smugly and pulled out a sphere shaped gizmo. It… it was barely bigger than a large marble.

“THAT’S all you need to come here?” Pac asked, concern crawling across his features.

“If the portal machine is a big knife that Buttocks uses to carve through the fabric of reality, this is more of a sewing needle that we use to push aside the fibers a bit so we can squeeze through. Not good enough for what Betrayus needs, and you need to be able to find the places where the weave is a little looser, but yeah. If every ghost in the netherworld knew how to do this, they wouldn’t even need that big ol’ machine,” Blinky told them.

“So It wouldn’t even matter if we go and break the thing,” Spiral stated.

“In fact we should probably leave it alone so they don’t have to get creative,” Cyli added.

“Bottom line is, we can’t keep them out anymore,” Pac stated. “Even if we close the portals, they’ll just keep making more.”

“Afraid so,” Sir Cumfrence said. Then he shook his head and smiled. “But worrying about all that is for another time.”

They all exited the maze, coming to the front of the school again.

“You three go about your day now,” Sir C said to Pac, Cyli, and Spiral. Then he turned to their ghostly friends. “And you can come with me if you like. I’d like to know everything you can tell me about interdimensional travel.”

They seemed a bit startled at this. At being told they could be helpful and that that help was wanted.

“Oh… yeah.”

“Sure!”

“Cool yeah we can do that.”

“Yeah… okay…”

Pac, Cyli and Spiral smiled as the ghosts discretely followed Sir Cumfrence back to his lab.

“Well…” Spiral said. “We got the rest of the day off. What do you wanna do now?”

Pac hesitated for a moment… then smiled.

…

“Are you sure about this?” Cyli asked.

“Yeah,” Pac said as he shifted his hoodie a little.

The three of them stood proudly atop the stairs of the school with the rest of their homeroom class, ready to have their picture taken. Pac’s acne was still very obvious but it was going down. And the shower he took fixed a lot of other things that were making him feel gross before. Not all of them but… 

Pac tugged at the hem of his shirt but didn’t fuss any more than that.

It was a start.

“Well I’m glad you're here,” Sherry said, grinning at his side. “Jusht-shaved-the-shchool-from-a-ghosht-attack looksh good on you.”

Pac smiled back and chuckled. Then he heard a whimper. They all turned to see Skeebo trying, and failing, to hide behind his football player friend named Squigg. The blue boy had a deep, purple, rash all over his face. Pac winced in sympathy, despite his friends shamelessly giggling at the bully. 

Yeah, he made a note to himself to make sure that he never threw up on someone again. Apparently his stomach acid wasn’t dangerous but it was also no joke.

“Smile for the camera, Skeebs,” Spiral teased. The tall kid then threw an arm around Pac’s shoulders and looked at the camera. “You too, buddy. Everybody knows you’ve got the best smile.”

Pac flushed sheepishly. He did smile. He smiled as big and wide as he wanted too. And when he looked back on that photo, his smile was what he focused on. Maybe he’d learn to love the rest of him one day but… man. He really did love his smile. 

Chapter Text

Pac’s legs moved frantically, his breathing ragged as he sprinted as fast as he could. The yellow boy’s heart raced and his hands clutched at his hood. The panic in his chest heightened as a hand snatched said hood. Pac’s protective shield was ripped off his head. Yellow skin was exposed against his will.

“Not so fast, Lemon Head!” His assialent grinned evilly as Pac pulled and tugged, trying to free himself from the other kid’s grasp. “Whatcha hidin’ from, buddy!? Come on, show us!”

Pac did as he was told. Though it made his golden skin crawl, he unzipped his hoodie and slipped out of it, resuming his run. Pac’s eyes brimmed with tears as he heard the other students he passed gasp at the sight of him. 

He cried and he ran.

…

He laughed and he ran.

“Try to keep up!” Pac called backwards.

Cyli and Spiral laughed along with him as the three of them raced through the mall. His friend’s playfully shouted at him, pretending they were actually worried about him getting to the food first. But Pac’s attention was more on them than what he was about to put in his mouth. This fact caused him to not watch where he was going enough. And this fact caused him to run right into and bounce off a man’s gut. 

“Woah!” Pac grunted as he teetered backwards, almost falling over.

The man looked down at him. Despite the fact that he had just taken a sprinting teenager directly to his front, he didn’t seem overly disoriented. The man was much bigger than Pac. Taller and wider. The man was like a dark green boulder; Basically immovable. A very overdressed boulder. He was wearing a suit, hat, and expensive looking loafers. Also a ring on his finger and a walking stick in his hand, both made of a strange green gemstone. Weird. But, hey, who was he to judge?

“Excuse me,” he said with contempt and an accent that Pac didn’t recognize. “I happen to be waddling here.”

“Sorry, sir,” Pac apologized, truthfully. “My bad.”

“Eat my dust, Pac!” Cyli called as she and Spiral zoomed past.

“Move it pal!” The red guy added.

Pac grinned and followed behind them in the direction of their favorite burger place.

The man watched the three of them run, his eyes tracing pointedly over Pac in particular. The man slipped a phone out of his pocket and smiled.

“Obtuse here,” he announced into the phone. “This so-called mighty yellow miracle doesn’t seem all that dangerous to me.” He walked over to lurk in the bushes and trees that had a clear view of Pac it-in Burger. There he regarded Pac and his friends chatting happily and Pac licking his lips in delight. “For a minor additional fee, I could have my boys simply make him… disappear.”

He was met with only obnoxious laughter of a familiar grating caliber. Obtuse looked at his phone in slight offense as the laughter went on.

“I had no idea you were a comedian too, Obtuse!” Betrayus cawed.

… 

“You may be the bloated boss of Pacopolis’s crime circle,” Betrayus stated, sitting in front of Ogles on the phone. “But trust me. That ghost gobbler is tough! Speaking of which.” He turned to the ghost chef. “My slug-minion better be tender, Ogle!”

“You got it, Lord B,” he threw over his shoulder.

“And remember, I ordered it rare.”

“Comin’ up!” Ogle stated with an irritated frown.

Betrayus turned back to the phone. “Now! Do not engage, get your well paid backside in there, and keep your eyes peeled!”

…

“Yes yes…” Obtuse bemused. “But it might prove helpful if I had a clue what these “power berries” looked like.”

“You’ll know it when you see it! AHH!”

Obtuse cocked an eyebrow.

“Is something wrong?”

“I’ll call you back!”

…

Betrayus squealed as he tried to tug the live slug off his nose.

“Ay… you said rare,” Ogle stated.

The cyclops ghost proceeded to duck under Betrayus’s handful of fire.

…

The biggest reason Pac loved Pac it-in Burger was not the delicious food made with care and consideration, definitely not that it was named after him, but instead had to do with the attitude of the people that served him. Restaurants always had a love hate relationship with him. For one, he bought a lot of their stuff and that was good money. On the other, the workers had to make all that food. Usually the sight of him entering a restaurant was met with horrified looks from behind the counter. But at this place…

“WOOP! Pac in the house! Sound the alarm!” The orange girl behind the counter with blue and purple locks announced.

There was an uproar of good natured laughter, mainly from the regulars and other workers from the kitchen. Pac smiled sheepishly as he and his friend’s approached.

“Hi, Tetra,” Pac greeted. “May I say, you look lovely today and I really appreciate your dedication to your job?”

“You may,” Tetra said, putting a playfully bashful hand to her chest. “But that will not stop me from cursing your name for the absolute mountain of food you’re about to have us make.”

Pac’s grin split even wider.

…

“Oh overlords, not you,” the man behind the register said out loud.

Pac hunched up his shoulders, his face almost entirely orange. Everyone in line behind him began loudly groaning as they realized who he was. His pulled up hood was useless now. They knew.

They acted like he didn’t hate this too. They acted like he chose to need this much. He tired to tune them out and just say his order, but the cashier cut him off.

“Listen, kid. Go to the back of the line,” he said, pointing to said line. “I don’t wanna deal with this yet and I’m not letting you hold us up for that long. Let everyone else go first.”

Pac’s stomach hurt at that thought. That wasn’t fair. It wasn’t right. 

“… Okay…” he mumbled.

He stepped out of line and walked back to the end of it, knowing full well that he would be blamed, once again, when his stomach started making too much noise.

Skeebo smirked as he watched him pass.

…

Skeebo scowled as he watched him pass.

“You guy’s go first,” Pac said to Cyli and Spiral.

“You sure?” Spiral asked.

“Yeah. Let them assemble the army backstage first,” Pac quipped with a shrug. “I can hold out for a few… minutes…” He smiled only slightly nervously as he crossed his arms over his front.

“I’ll be quick,” Cyli promised as she stepped forward.

“Lay it on me, girlfriend,” Tetra winked.

Cyli rolled her eyes at the college age girl with a smile.

“One junior pack-it sub and a small lemonade, please.”

Just then, a blue blur pushed his way to the front with Cyli and leaned against the table.

“Make that six Pac-it specials,” Skeebo stated. “And a large lemonade. Oh, and make that lemonade pink.”

Tetra, who they had long since informed of what the situation with Skeebo was, rolled her eyes but smirked evilly and got to work on fixing that up with her friends. Skeebo didn’t even notice.

“Yellow makes me gag,” Skeebo stated as if that was something to be proud of (and as if his hair wasn’t yellow as well).

“Skeebo,” Cyli frowned. “I can’t—”

“Oh, no worries, babe!” He cut her off. “When you’re with the Skeebster—” he pulled out a wad of money with a wink. “It’s all expenses paid.”

“That’s great,” Cyli said, backing up so Pac and Spiral were visibly by her sides. The boys just looked amused by his audacity and naivety to think this would work. “But I’m with my real friends. And I like yellow lemonade.” She smiled at Pac, who returned it gratefully and semi shyly, his hands stuffed in his pockets.

Just then, Tetra placed down the tray piled high with the giant order and snatched the units out of Skeebo’s hand. Cyli then handed her some money of her own.

“Please bring me what I ordered,” Cyli said.

Skeebo sputtered as he looked between her and the food.

“H-hey, what’s the deal!? I just blew all my cash on this chow!” Skeebo stated. “Do you want it to go to waste?”

Pac’s peuples instantly dilated, a string of drool leaking from the corner of his mouth.

“Skeebo, you fool!” Spiral lamented as he watched his best friend wrestle futility with his urges. “Take cover!”

At that exact moment, Pac launched himself forward face first. Cyli and Skeebo dived out of his way. Pac catapulted the food into the air and caught everything in his mouth, packaging and all. He licked his lips before slipping into a half lidded and slightly self deprecating smirk.

“Problem solved,” he announced, putting his hands in the air in an “oops” position.

Once again, laughter and even some light clapping emerged from the kitchen. The loudest being from a large brown man wearing a chef’s hat: the owner. Spiral patted him on the back and Pac lightly brushed it off, turning to Tetra.

“12 more Pac-it specials please,” he said. “And… how much did that stuff just cost?”

“You don’t have to, Pac.”

“I’ll feel guilty if I don’t.”

Tetra sighed and printed him out Skeebo’s receipt.

“Fine, but I’m not charging you for any of this,” she told him.

“Alright.”

One thing that Pac had only been made aware of recently was that the president was the main reason his aunt Spheria could afford to keep him fed. Now, his aunt wasn’t poor but Pac was… a pretty big drain on one’s wallet when it came to food. Apparently Spheros sent his aunt money for groceries, even when they weren’t talking. And now that Pac knew, the president sometimes just sent the compensation straight to the places he ordered from to prevent the boy from having to drag around a small treasure chest whenever he wanted to eat out. He only ever paid about 40% of what was actually owed and the prez covered the rest. It made him feel guilty but he also couldn’t lie that it was necessary. 

Tetra showed him the price and Pac proceeded to dig around his pockets for that amount. He then walked over to Skeebo who looked absolutely livid the entire time this went on.

“Thanks for the snack, Skeeb—”

The money was snatched from his hand before he could even finish that sentence. 

“You foodie freak!” Skeebo roared at him.

Pac simply raised an eyebrow in response, his expression calm and generally unbothered. Skeebo felt his face heat up even more.

…

“You foodie freak!”

“I-I’m sorry!” Pac stuttered, trying to protect his face with his hands. “I didn’t know it was yours! I’m sorry, I just—!”

“You are sorry you fat useless pig!”

Skeebo raised his fist and Pac flinched, his face scrunched and fearful. He didn’t even need to actually hit him.

He was afraid of him.

…

He wasn’t afraid of him. Not anymore. 

Skeebo’s teeth were clenched so tightly they felt like they might crack. It infuriated him that Pac no longer feared him. There was a time when the yellow one would actively avoid and try to hide from him. Skeebo needed to chase after the lemon head to get any fun at all. Now he couldn’t escape him. He was everywhere. And he had changed so much from the pathetic little twerp Skeebo loved to hate.

He still wore his hoodies, many of which were the same ones he had ripped off of him, humiliating him by revealing his freakish nature to the world. But that wasn’t necessary anymore because Pac no longer hid in his hoodies. They were open and the hoods were down. He wore them comfortably instead of drowning in them. Not only that, but he had changed from baggy cargos to shorts. Shorts ! Forget not making an effort to hide it, it was almost like the yellow freak was flaunting it now! He was brighter, more energetic, fatter , but also somehow happier! He smiled more, laughed more, and didn’t flinch or shy away as much from things he used to be ashamed of. That he should be ashamed of. Skeebo hated it. Meer months ago, that lemon loser only existed to be his punishing bag. What kind of joke was the universe playing at?

Just as he was about to make Pac fear him again. He heard screaming from outside the restaurant. All of them looked out the large archway to the outdoors to see rainbow ectoplasm flying after civilians.

Skeebo screamed.

“Ghost attack!”

The blue bully proceeded to run and jump into the nearest hiding place… which turned out to be the trash can.

“Heh…” Cyli sighed in exasperation. “My hero.”

“Dude,” Spiral said. “That’s one heck of an invasion. And on a weekend too!”

“Maybe not…” Pac said, raising an eyebrow at the sight. He pointed. “Check it.”

They weren’t hard to pick out of the crowd. Inky, Blinky, Pinky and Clyde were beaming.

“Number four on my mark!” Blinky called.

“Oh goodie!” Clyde giggled.

The four of them descended on a random blue man. Clyde slimed the floor behind him and the other two boys layed on the floor in front of the puddle but behind the man. Then Pinky rose up in front of him with a stupid “haunted” look on her face.

“IIIIIII’m scaaaaaaryyyyyyy!” She moaned.

The man screamed and stumbled backwards, tripping over Inky and Blinky, then crashing into the orange slime. The ghost gang all high fived and flew off.

“Okay, probably not a serious invasion if the four stooges are here and also didn’t warn us,” Spiral chuckled.

“So what’s the deal?” Cyli asked.

“Don’t know,” Pac shrugged. “But we can’t let this place get party rocked into rubble.”

“We didn’t bring our PSCs,” Cyli stated, the two of them gesturing to their empty backs.

“Well, never thought we’d have to suck plasma at the mall,” Spiral stated.

“That’s cool,” Pac smiled. “I got this.”

The boy pulled his berry dispenser out of his pocket. And as he did… two sets of eyes fell on it.

Skeebo gaped.

Obtuse raised the phone to his ear again.

“Ah… I’ve located your berries. And it appears young Mr. Chartreuse is about to make his move.”

“Keep watching!” Betrayus ordered.

A ghost flew up to the crime boss and Obtuse carelessly pointed the phone in the ghost’s direction, showing the picture of Betrayus. The ghost’s evil smile vanished and it scrambled away in fear.

Obtuse smirked. Betrayus may be an uppity and demanding fool, but at least he was good for some diplomatic immunity.

Pac clicked a berry into his mouth and took to the skies. Skeebo peeked out of his trash can as he watched his yellow classmate go to town on the invading ghosts.

Cyli and Spiral simply sat down with their burger orders and ate as they watched Pac from a bench like one would a movie.

“You guys wanna power up?” He asked, offering his dispenser from the sky.

“Thanks, Pac. But we got our own if we need them,” Cyli said, showing him her pink display case containing a few berries of her own.

“Looks like you’re runnin’ the show just fine on your own,” Spiral told him. “We’ll just enjoy the 3D action!”

Pac laughed as his two best friend’s put on 3D glasses in unison. He then bit down on a green berry and his body changed again. At first he turned entirely invisible. But when he reappeared, his color pallet had changed to green and orange. His shoes were pointy and curly toed and all of his arms and legs were covered. His hoodie had turned into a short sleeved one with no zipper and he had orange spines and stripes along his torso. His hood was up and it had turned into a decorative replica of a cameleon head. All of this ignoring the fact that his green face had patterns and marks all over it. Pac had been waiting to try this one out in combat. He smiled and shot out his tongue, which had turned bright orange. The sticky ball at the end attached to a group of ghosts and carried them right into his mouth. Pac licked his lips and took off.

“Woah!” Sherry chuckled in awe. “Nish new look!” Sherry called.

“Thanks!” Pac called back, shooting her a thumbs up. Then he vanished,

Through a combination of camouflage and his newly sticky tongue, he began making quick work of these ghosts.

While most sane people would watch this in joy, or at least a little gratefulness, Skeebo watched in anger.

“He’d just be a lemon squirt without those berries,” he muttered, bitterly. “Of course it’s the berries! He couldn’t do any of this on his own! If I had his supply, I’d be twice the hero he is!”

He thought back to that time Pac had offered him one of said berries. Recalling how nothing had happened, he reasoned that those ones must have been defective. Of course they were. Of course the greedy glutton would hog all the super berries for himself.

Pac had gulped down nearly all of the remaining ghosts.

“We better bail,” Inky stated. Lest they run the risk of Pac having to eat them for show. Thankfully this had never happened before but they shouldn’t tempt fate.

“Ready when you are,” Clyde agreed.

Pinky’s eyes narrowed on the blue guy peeking out of a garbage can. She had only ever seen that guy once. Specifically, she had seen him shove Pac into a wall. Oh, that wouldn’t do.

“Hang on,” she said. “One last slimming. Follow me!”

They did. They followed her right into the garbage can where they flew around a screaming Skeebo and then flew back out.

Skeebo grunted loudly as he rose out of the can, covered in rainbow slime.

“Ugh! I look like a giant booger!”

Cyli was laughing her ass off at the sight.

“And it’s even better in 3D!” She chuckled madly while teasingly adjusting her 3D glasses.

Skeebo scowled at his ex-girlfriend. She was utterly unbothered and turned back to her friends just as Pac hit the floor

“Everybody okay?” He asked the surrounding people.

He received only cheers in response.

“Pac, my MAN!” Rhomba pumped her fists.

“You’re my hero, man, seriously!” Corkscrew said, grinning so wide his smile almost disappeared under his oversized helmet. “Thank you for saving my new duds!”

“Pac! Pac! Pac!”

Okay, Pac was getting better with this stuff, but he blushed like mad, even as he accepted a high five from Rhomba. Still, he was smiling the whole time. Even as a certain blue booger tried to ruin it.

“Ha! Hero, my slimy shoes!” Skeebo said, having crawled out of the trash can and beginning to shake off the slime. “The only reason that gumball gets all the glory is those power berries!”

Skeebo was used to people heeding his words. He was used to them, at the least, acknowledging them. But in the time it took for him to say that, the powder blue girl covered in yarn that was usually too shy to say anything and one of Skeebo’s old football buddies, Squigg, had hoisted Pac onto their shoulders and were parading him away. 

The only one who gave any indication that they heard it at all was Cyli. But only to roll her eyes. Skeebo grit his teeth together and tried to grab her wrist, winding up for another string of furious words. 

…

“Skeebo!” Cyli called out, indignantly, trying to pull her arm free.

“Hey, don’t walk away from me, babe!” He ordered. “What’s up with you!?”

“You were the one that said I should give you space!”

“I never said that.”

Cyli was confused and it showed.

“But—”

“Cyli, look, stop makin’ stuff up. Let’s go get ice cream.”

“You said—”

“No I didn’t! Look, are you gonna stop acting crazy or do we actually need to give each other some space?”

“… Fine.”

Skeebo smiled as her hand slipped into his.

…

Cyli pulled her arm away from him and glared so fiercely he genuinely feared she might hurt him. Badly.

“Do not touch me.”

Then she turned and left, leaving Skeebo to fume.

Obtuse watched this with a careful eye. Once the criminal had seen the berries, a new problem immediately came to light. How would he get to them? The yellow kid carried his dispenser with him everywhere. If he got caught pickpocketing him, it could put his entire underground ring in jeopardy. He’d be put on the justice system’s radar. That wouldn’t do. This wasn’t even mentioning the fact that he couldn’t follow the boy into school… but he could.

“It appears I have a target,” he informed Betrayus. “A big… blue target.”

…

“Perfect!” Betrayus smirked. “Just what the doctor ordered!”

Betrayus hung up the phone and turned his attention to the literal doctor that ordered this. Dr. Buttocks was sipping calmly on some sludge soda.

“So. You sure you’re the giant rump-tillian brain you say you are? If we get one of those power berries…”

“I can replicate it, yes,” the ghost confirmed. “And with zat power…”

“I’ll finally be able to destroy that specter slurping beach ball ONCE AND FOR ALL!”

…

Pac groaned, his shoulders slumped as he and his friends walked away from the mall.

“I wonder if ghosts have expiration dates…” he mumbled. He glanced at his concerned friends with one hand over his stomach and the other pointing vaguely at his mouth. “Cuz I think some of ‘em went bad…”

Pac shivered as the slightly queasy feeling in his gut surged. He stopped abruptly, his cheeks puffing out slightly. A wet burp accompanied the cloud of eyeballs flew out of him but that didn’t fix the issues going on internally. He began violently coughing, Spiral patting him on the back to try and help him get it up.

“Hold it, hold it!” Pac waved his hand at Spiral. “Hang on!”

Pac took a deep breath and placed a finger over one of his nostrils. He blew violently and the last pair of eyeballs shot out. Pac and his friends watched in slight amusement as the eyeballs bounced off of a wall and wobbly floated away.

“Bleh…” Pac sighed. “I hate it when they get stuck like that.”

“Does the nausea still happen?” Cyli asked. Concern gripped her features. They hadn’t heard Pac complain of stomach troubles relating to ghosts in quite a while. They had silently hoped that he simply didn’t experience them at all anymore. But Pac wasn’t really one for complaining. And they guessed it wasn’t too far out there to assume that evil spirits weren’t all that easy on the digestive system.

“Not a lot,” Pac immediately assured her. “And the bouts are few and far between. Guess I’m just having a day. Life isn’t all berries and butterflies, ya know?”

“Not even for heros?” Spiral asked. “Man. The rest of us are doomed if you can get an upset stomach.”

Pac lightly punched him in the arm while the red guy laughed. 

“Give me a break, dude. Just cuz I’m a hero doesn’t mean I’m perfect.”

…

“The hero gigs around here are totally rigged…” Skeebo mumbled. He frowned deeply and frustratedly at the floor as he wandered aimlessly around the empty streets not far from the mall. “Of all the people they could have chosen. Him ? Score me some of those berries and you’d see some real heroics.”

“My thoughts precisely.”

Skeebo jumped in surprise and ducked behind the nearest hiding place, which was (once again) a trash can. A green man emerged from behind a building, carrying a camera. 

“Oh I do beg your pardon. Did I startle you?” The man asked.

Skeebo, realizing that this was not appropriate screaming and hiding conditions, coughed to try and cover his earlier blunder.

“Oh no, I was just, uh… picking up litter!” He bluffed, his eyes scrambling around the floor. “Like this!” He picked up a leaf and scoffed loudly. “Some people. They think they can just let trees drop leaves anywhere!” He proceeded to drop the leaf in the trash and a camera flashed. He stumbled in surprise.

“Yes, perfect! Civil responsibility,” the newcomer said with a phony encouraging grin. “I knew I saw that quality in you.”

“Say what?” Skeebo questioned. Though he didn’t keep from perking up a tad. That was the first well deserved positive praise he’d gotten in months.

“I am a reporter—” Obtuse bluffed, “— doing a story about the real heros of Pacopolis. The ones who get overlooked because Pac Man keeps hogging the limelight.”

“That’s exactly what I’ve been saying!” Skeebo once again flinched from the light of another shutter.

“Perfect! Righteous anger!” Obtuse crowed. “That’s the look I need for my article. Now- now try: noble citizen.”

Skeebo, his head rapidly swelling from the praise, struck a few poses while the manipulative man shot pictures. 

“Oh, protector of the innocent,” he prompted. 

Skeebo looked around and stood next to a little girl… who swiftly kicked him in the shins and ran calling for her mother’s help. A woman with brown hair and purple skin (similar to the child) stomped over to him and took a swing with her purse.

“You better hope I don't tell Pac Man about you! Stay away from my daughter!”

The woman scooped the girl into her arms and walked away.

“There, you see what I mean?” Obtuse stated, walking over to Skeebo in his slightly dazed state. “The bigger bonzo even makes real heros like you look bad.”

Skeebo frowned, but not at the man. Finally, someone who made sense. 

“It’s all because of those super berries!” He stated. “If I had them, I—”

“What? You think you may have a way too… get the power berries?” Obtuse asked.

Skeebo thought about that. He thought about all the times he’d seen Pac’s berry dispenser or even Cyli and Spiral’s supplies in public. It wasn’t too often, but…

“I might.”

“Then you owe it to Pac World, to let me make you the celebrated hero you were always meant to be,” he said, stroking his ego with a hand on his shoulder.

It worked like a charm.

“I’ll do it…” Skeebo grinned. “I’ll get those berries!”

“For Pac World.”

“For Pac World!”

More like its destruction.

…

The next day was school again. He made his first move. He snuck across the floor during class, reaching towards his ex girlfriend's backpack where he was sure her berry case was. Maybe he could even swipe her phone too. Find out her new number and post a few things online that he found. That’ll teach her to—

Briiiiiiiiiinnnnngggg!

Skeebo took cover as students jumped to their feet and began stampeding towards the door. He ended up on the underside of a lot of shoes.

…

He tried again during lunch. Cyli, Spiral and Pac were sitting with a mountain of food between them (plus two normal sized trays). Skeebo watched Pac eat with disgust for a moment before his eyes fell to the berry dispenser. The way the food was placed blocked Cyli and Spiral’s view of it and Pac was sure to be too absorbed in his own gluttony to notice. Skeebo smirked. He would just walk over there and—

He slipped on a puddle of spilled pasta sauce. “Woah!” He cried.

Thankfully for him, Pac wasn’t nearly as distracted by his food as he previously thought. Just as the blue boy was about to hit the ground, Pac’s tongue shot out and caught his fall. Skeebo grimaced in disgust as the freakish pink organ lifted him back to his feet.

The trio were all looking at him now. Spiral and Cyli in distaste and mistrust, and Pac mostly just in slight confusion.

The yellow one garbled something that sounded vaguely like “watch it dude” that was distorted and muffled by his large tongue still being out of his mouth. Pac reeled it back in and raised an eyebrow at the bully.

“You’re the one that called my eating perimeter a splash zone,” he reminded the teen.

Skeebo fumed.

“Really?” Cyli said, her distrust turned to straight, badly hidden, anger. “When was this?”

Skeebo stumbled backwards from her glare as Pac sheepishly tried to change the subject.

…

One more try. One more, Skeebo promised himself. 

Spiral and Cyli were standing with their backs turned to his locker. Spiral’s locker was open and Skeebo could clearly see a transparent tube container holding the glowing multi-colored berries. The two of them seemed to be too engrossed in their conversation to notice much of anything else. So he made his move, sneaking behind them. It was working like a charm. They didn’t notice.

“What’s up with you and Skeebo?” Spiral asked. “You’re not thinkin’ of dating him again, are you?”

Cyli scoffed loudly . So loudly Skeebo paused in his snatching of the container.

“Get real!” Cyli told him. “ No way . Ignoring the fact that he was a lousy boyfriend—” Skeebo tried not to grit his teeth too tightly. He was a great boyfriend, “—you can catch me hula dancing upside down on the ceiling before I even think of taking back the guy that hurt one of my best friends.”

Skeebo almost sputtered out loud. How could this have happened? He chose her specifically because she was new (and hot) (and blue, which were the only girls his parents wanted him to date), how could he have failed in making her see the lemon head for what he was so badly? How could she even conceive of the fact that he wasn’t justified? That beach ball deserved everything he got.

Spiral tsked through his teeth.

“Yeah… and he hasn’t even told you the half of it.”

“Not from lack of trying on my part,” Cyli sighed. “It is ludicrous how hard it is to get Pac to talk about anything Skeebo did to him. It’s like he’s trying to protect him!”

“He’s not,” Spiral promised. “Trust me, he hates him just as much as we do. It’s just… Pac’s self esteem and forgiving nature don’t mix well when it comes to retaliation. At least not for things that people do to him.”

“Tell me about it,” Cyli sighed. “It was like pulling teeth to get him to tell me anything.”

“Yeah.. What was the story he told you?”

Skeebo couldn’t see her face but her entire aura darkened as she began recounting the story.

…

“Hey, Lemon Head!”

Pac winced and folded in on himself as a familiar voice reached his ears. The boy slowly turned around to see… Skeebo. It had only taken a day for this guy to track him down. 

“Hey, Skeebo…” Pac said back.

“Don’t “hey” me!” The teen spat, “It’s bad enough I had to share middle school with a blubber bellied freak show like you! Now you have the nerve to follow me to high school?!”

“Trust me, the feeling’s mutual.” Pac deadpanned.

The boy made a move to walk away but was grabbed by his backpack and tugged back.

“Whatcha got in here?” Skeebo smirked, pulling out one of his history books.

Pac’s eyes widened when he saw the symbol on it.

“Give that back!” Pac ordered, making a grab for it.

Unfortunately, though Skeebo wasn’t nearly as tall as Spiral, he was still taller than him by a bit.

“You still read garbage about ghosts, nerd?” He laughed.

Pac felt his cheeks turn warm as everyone in the halls turned to look at the scene unfolding.

“They’re an important part of our history,” he defended, making another grab for the book.

“And they’re the reason your parents left, yadda yadda.” Skeebo teased, reciting… other means in which Pac had defended his interests in the past.

Pac’s eyes went wide. He could hear the murmuring beginning around him.

“Th-they didn’t leave!” Pac blurted, “They disappeared! A-and neither did the other yellow ones, they were hunted down!”

Well, now he’d done it. He suspected two days from now the whole school would know he was an orphan that was obsessed with ghosts. Skeebo rolled his eyes and scoffed.

“Whatever. Just know your place, Ghost Geek. High school is MY time and I don’t wanna be reminded of you every second with your obnoxious color.” He threw the book onto the ground before shoving Pac over as well, “So do everyone a favor and disappear like your parents.”

…

“Oh…” Spiral growled. “That one was a doozy.”

Skeebo heard the tall kid cracking his knuckles. He shied away, unknowingly stepping into the locker.

“Y’know, before you reminded me of that, I was almost partial to saying I felt sorry for the guy. Almost .”

“Yup,” Cyli chuckled, slightly sadly. “Almost.”

Spiral reached over Skeebo’s head, put the berries in his backpack, and closed the locker… with Skeebo in it. The bully whimpered in the darkness of said locker.

…

It had taken him thirty minutes to figure a way out of that locker. And now…

“I give up,” Skeebo grunted as he marched towards last period.

Obtuse frowned from where he peeked in from a window.

“It appears we have a problem with this Skeebo kid,” Obtuse said into his phone. “To it… he’s a complet twit. I believe we’re going to need… a diversion.”

…

“One power berry pilfering distraction coming up!” Betrayus beamed.

The ghost gang listened nervously from behind a wall as their “leader” readied to order an attack.

“I knew he wasn’t sending us out there for fun,” Pinky hissed. “We have to warn Pacums.”

…

Skeebo’s last class that day was gym. And right now, not even nailing the lemon head in his stupid yellow face with a dodgeball would make him feel better. He knew the world was against him recently but this was ridiculous. He glared fiercely as he watched Pac and his friends expertly dodge the incoming balls, just like they had dodged his attempts at scoring some berries. They looked like they were having a blast too.

“Heads up, Sherry!” Spiral called.

The pink girl managed to duck under an incoming ball thanks to the warning just as Spiral back blended under an attack aimed at him.

“Nice!” Pac called as he and Cyli jumped over an attempt in unison.

“Hey, who let those three be on the same team!?” Rhomba called with a playfully irritated grin from the opposite side of the gym (the same side as Skeebo). “So not fair! Don’t let the ghost fighting guys team up on us!”

“Deal with us, Rhomie!” Cyli called, attempting to spike her with a ball.

“Every one openfire on Pac!” Corkscrew ordered, hiding behind super tall Issen as the kid jumped back and forth on his tall legs. “It’s our only hope!”

“Can’t touch this!” Pac teased, literally doing a backhand spring over some oncoming balls, then flipping over some more.

The class screamed with indignation. Pac laughed.

Skeebo’s jaw clenched. It wasn’t fair. It wasn’t right. How come that gluttonous freak show got to stand there all happy? What did he do to deserve it?

“GHOSTS!” Squigg cried.

The class all screamed in terror as ectoplasm fazed through the walls. A blue ghost made a beeline for Angie, a girl who was no longer wearing her orange knitted hat and scarf and already felt vulnerable. Angie screamed and closed her eyes from the oncoming attack. Pac intercepted the ghost, gulping it down before ninja-rolling back onto his feet. Pac belched and the eyeballs flew away.

“Th-thanks, P-Pac.”

“You’re welcome. Run!”

She did and Pac rolled over Spiral’s back to eat another ghost.

“Two days in a row?” Cyli questioned, talking on a fighting stance.

“Betrayus seriously needs a hobby,” Pac agreed.

The trio all reached behind their backs… only to remember that they were currently in their gym clothes.

“Shoot,” Pac said, realizing he was without his berry dispenser.

Skeebo’s eyes widened at the sight. He looked over to where Pac’s back pack was… The yellow dispenser hung slightly out of the red bag… and Skeebo snatched it out before running out of the room.

“I’ll keep the heat off of you,” Pac said. “Go get your PSC’s and my berries!”

“On it!”

Then they were off. 

Pac had never fought ghosts without powering up before and he couldn’t say it was very pleasant. He couldn’t reach a lot of them. He could only really get any bites when a ghost made a dive for one of his classmates. Or… and he really hated to do this, but…

“Loophole!” Pac called. “Give me a boost!”

The dark blue football player was startled at being spoken to by him. Loophole was one of Skeebo’s friends. He had helped the other blue kid make his life hell. And while he wasn’t entirely sure if he and Skeebo were friends anymore, he sure knew that they weren’t. Even so, Loophole did as he was told and vaulted Pac into the air.

Five ghosts went down the yellow kid’s throat. Pac landed and shot him a thumbs up. Loophole returned it and then followed everyone else out of the gym. Then another ghost rammed Pac off his feet. Pac was splattered with red slime and rolled across the floor.

A flood of ghosts was about to converge on him when…

They were caught in a crackling ball of plasma. Pac looked behind him as five ghosts in total were sucked into Cyli and Spiral’s cannons.

“Heads up, Pac!” Spiral called.

A blue power berry was thrown into the air. Pac shot up and caught it in his mouth. His muscles buzzed with power. Pac realized this wasn’t a flight berry but…

He zoomed to the other side of the gym at inhuman speeds, catching six low hanging ghosts in his mouth. Pac smiled as he licked his teeth. This would do.

For the next few minutes, Pac was nothing but a yellow blur. The ghosts were disoriented and fearful trying to keep an eye on him. He ran up the walls, shooting across the room like a bullet. Ghosts were gobbled out of the air. Pac didn’t even need to fly. Soon enough there were none left.

“Nice one, Pac,” Spiral grinned.

“Short but sweet,” the yellow teen shrugged.

His expression soured a tad and he belched, eyeballs flying out of his mouth and out of the windows. Pac’s face scrunched uncomfortably as he once again realized something was stuck. He rubbed at his ear before bonking the side of his head until the eyeballs popped out.

“Is it just me—” he said, rubbing his ear a little bit more to try and get rid of the very odd feeling in there, “— or was there something weird about that attack?”

Just like that, Cyli and Spiral’s faces dropped in concern.

“Funny you should mention that—”

“You’re right, Pac,” Blinky stated.

It was always mixed feelings whenever Inky, Blinky, Pinky, and Clyde showed up. On one hand: yay friends. On the other: uh oh, what now?

“Betrayus was distractin’ yous so he—” Inky was cut off.

“So he could steal your berries!” Pinky shouted, clearly beside herself.

“Geez… way to spoil my dramatic announcement,” Inky snarked.

Pac had no time for that though. His jaw dropped. Then he raced over to his backpack and began practically tearing it apart.

“It’s not in there, Pac,” Cyli told him, regrettably. “We checked.”

“But… but where…?”

…

“I got em’…” Skeebo beamed. “I got em’!”

He raised the yellow container into the air in triumph. Skeebo’s back was pressed against the wall just outside of the gym. He had escaped out the door that took him outside instead of further into the school. Couldn’t risk anyone picking up on what he was doing. And this decision led him straight to Obtuse.

“Great work, kid,” he praised. “Tell you what? Why don’t I hang on to those for you… just for… safekeeping.”

“No,” Skeebo stated, immediately.

Obtuse’s smile shriveled as the boy turned back to the gym door. Skeebo gasped at what he saw. Specifically, he saw Inky, Blinky, Pinky, and Clyde.

“Hey, there’s more ghosts! That lemon lamer missed a few… but I won't!”

Skeebo opened the dispenser.

“Wait— hold on!”

Too late. He dumped at least four into his mouth and struggled to swallow. He almost gagged. The taste was just as awful as he remembered. But once they finally went down, Skeebo sighed.

“I feel… I feel…”

Skeebo’s body glowed briefly. Rockets appeared around his shoes and his hair grew longer and shinier, his upswept bangs specifically.

“Awesome!” He grinned. “Supercharge! Thrusters on full!”

The thrusters did as they were told and he clumsily took to the skys… completely out of control. He flew every which way, almost hitting Obtuse a few times before he finally burst through the gym doors. 

Pac, Cyli and Spiral blankly watched as he sporadically flew around.

“Anyone else got a bad feeling about this?” Pac asked.

“Oh yeah.”

“Major.”

…

“Okay…” Skeebo muttered, trying to angle himself in the air. “Gettin’ it…” Eventually he did get it. And when he did… “Ghost time!”

Inky, Blinky, Pinky and Clyde didn’t know what they were in for as the bully flew towards them. They scrambled away and Pac (along with many onlookers that peeked back into the gym) stared in absolute shock as Skeebo opened his mouth and ate them . The class gasped… and some started to cheer.

“Are you INSANE!?” Pac and Cyli cried in unision.

“Are you off your ball bearing, Skeebo!?” Spiral agreed. “Only Pac can eat ghosts!”

“Says who?” Skeebo snarked.

Then he almost hurled. The ghost gang was not happy and he did not feel good. But he pulled it together and smiled at the way his classmates were cheering for him. And he completely ignored Pac’s concerned shouting.

“Berries don’t let me eat ghosts, Skeebo!” He shouted over the comotion. “I can do that naturally! You can’t—!”

Skeebo’s eyes widened slightly at that news and at the fact that he almost puked again.

“S’cuse me… be right back.”

He fled back out the door and behind the bush where Obtuse was waiting for him.

“Well done, hero,” he said. “Now… how about you—”

He was cut off by four ghosts flying out of the kids mouth and covering him in slime. The ghost gang was covered in drool and groaning.

“Deal with it,” he ordered the man. “My public awaits!”

He flew away again just in time to meet the students who were pooling outside to continue cheering.

“Ughhhhh…” Blinky groaned. “Is it just me or was that somehow worse than when Pac did it?”

“Yeah…” his friends all agreed. 

They sunk into the ground, leaving Obtuse in a disoriented heap.

“Sorry to keep you waiting!” He said to the cheering teens. “I had to do a quick check and be sure Pac Man didn’t miss anymore—”

“Skeebo!” 

The kids all parted like the Red Sea as Pac and his friends came marching over to the blue boy.

“I’d like my berries back, please,” he said. “You know; the ones you swiped from my backpack? The ones my friends were looking for while I fought those ghosts powerless?”

Faces in the crowd, like Sherry, Rhomie, Angie and Corkscrew, (who hadn’t been too pleased with this stunt in the first place) all frowned now. But Skeebo didn’t notice them because he was too busy taking cheerleading twins on each arm.

“What’s the matter? Afraid of a little competition?”

“Those berries are for protecting Pac World!” Cyli pointed accusingly at him. “Not showing off!”

“Woah, sounds like somebody’s jealous,” Skeebo snarked. “This says a lot, you know? I just proved you don’t have to be a yellow freak to be a hero and all your scarfing now is a big bowl of sour grapes. What makes you so special? Why are you the only one who gets to be a hero?”

To half of the classes bewilderment, the other half were actually agreeing with Skeebo. They all watched as Pac’s steady glare remained unmoving. He bent down, picked up a rock off the ground… and crushed it between his teeth with the loudest crunching sound they had ever heard. 

Suddenly there was no longer a split between the class anymore. Everyone's jaw dropped. They had all seen Pac eat. They had all seen him eat a lot , and they all knew that he was capable of eating weird things but… dang, his teeth cut through that rock like spikes hooked to a hydraulic press.

“Because I am a freak, Skeebo,” Pac told him. The words were slightly garbled by the rubble in his mouth. He swallowed. “I’m the only one on the planet that’s biologically built for this job. I didn’t even wanna be Pac Man but I’m the only one who can . If you ask me, this says a lot more about you . You want my power berries and you want to be praised as a hero but look me in the eyes and say you’re willing to swap places with me. And I don’t just mean now, I mean my whole life . You know what I’m talking about.”

Pac tossed the rock and Skeebo reluctantly caught it in his hands as his berry wore off. The gray stone with a clear bite mark taken out of it…. This stone… that action… that would have gotten him mercilessly attacked before. Skeebo would have ranted and raved about the freakish abnormality of such a feat while Pac shivered and sniffled. 

“What makes you so special?” Pac asked. “What gives you the right to steal my stuff and make my job harder after everything else you put me through?”

“Oh, shut your big yellow yap!” Skeebo groaned. “You really gonna stand here and cry about your oh so awful life when you’ve been in the spotlight since day one!? Take those phony excuses and shove them down your greedy gullet! I’m protecting Pac World now and I’ll do it better than you ever did, Butter Ball! And I’ll prove it! I’m gonna— …. I’m gonna…”

“Skeebo is going straight to the Netherworld!”

The class all turned in confusion as a green man emerged from the bushes holding a camera.

“Yes… yes… to take on Betrayus himself! Once and for all…”

“Yeah…” Skeebo agreed. “Yeah! I’ll end this war right here and now!”

“No way, that’s nuts!” Pac stated.

“Says you!” Skeebo said, taking out the berry dispenser. “Does this look nuts!?”

He ate another rocket berry and took to the skies, flying towards the maze.

“… Extremely,” Pac sighed, catching Cyli’s eye. He was confused by the look she was giving him. “… What?”

“That… was the most I’ve ever heard you trash Skeebo… and it was epic.”

Pac blushed.

“I-I wasn’t trashing him, I just— HOLY MOTHER OF HELL is he actually doing it!?”

The trio all watched Skeebo’s tiny flying silhouette disappear into the maze. Pac’s face… was legendary. He was shocked but also angry and offended and done with this shit . The yellow one’s breathing slowly began to grow faster.

“What are you doing?” Issen whispered as Corkscrew slowly slipped out his phone.

“The prophecy fortold Pac would one day go apeshit but I never believed it,” he whispered back, hitting record. “If today is that sacred day, I am getting that shit on camera.”

“Dito…” Sherry said, slipping out hers as well.

The ghost gang were having a similar reaction from the bushes.

“Oh my overlords, please yes,” Blinky prayed.

Thankfully for them, Pac noticed none of this… and exploded.

“What the actual HELL!?” Pac screamed. “He! Is so! STUPID! Seriously, who the hell does he think he is!? Oh, oh, I play football and bullied a kid a whole foot shorter than me for five years, that must mean I’m tough shit— NO IT DOESN’T! Those ghosts are gonna eat him ALIVE and when I fly in there to save his sorry ass and find him covered in slime and crying, I am going to LAUGH! Because I deserve it at this point!”

“Hell yeah you do, Pacster!” Spiral whooped, definitely egging him on. 

“RIGHT!? After everything that jerk put me through— stealing my hoodies, poking fun at my eating, poking fun at my interests, doing everything in his power to ensure I never had a single friend, and making me live my adolescence in fear— HE DOESN’T EVEN HAVE THE DECENCY TO LET ME SAVE HIS SORRY ASS IN PEACE! He has to get in my way and pull this shit— why?— because apparently my happiness offends him???!! Apparently me being anything short of miserable is just too much for the pea brain, well GUESS WHAT?! My life doesn't revolve around that asshole— never did and never will! So he can take his inferiority complex, stop making it my problem, AND SHOVE IT UP HIS—!”

Pac stopped abruptly, fiercely biting his tongue. With the brightest blush anyone had ever seen on his face, he slowly glanced backwards at all of his classmates. They all looked varying degrees of terrified, impressed, ecstatic, and elated. From the bushes, Pinky swooned and Clyde had to catch her from falling over. It was safe to say that Pac was more mortified than he had ever been before. And yet…

“… Man, that felt good,” he sighed, raggedly.

Cyli and Spiral began hooting and hollering like airhorns, pumping their fists and overall just being (loveable) jerks.

“Please don’t post that,” Pac said to the two of his peers that had their phones out.

“Aw come on!” Sherry whined. “Can I at leasht keep it for inshpiration?”

“Inspiration?” Pac echoed in a disbelieving laugh.

“That wash one of the mosht beautiful thingsh I’ve ever laid eyesh on… Sho yesh. Inshpiration.”

“Fine.”

“Woo!”

“You jerks—” he pointed to Cyli and Spiral, “— come on. We’ve got an idiot to save.”

“Aw man, why?” Spiral whined.

“Dude—”

“I’m kidding, dude, you’re right. Skeebo sucks but we gotta save him.”

“Why?” Cyli asked. “I’m kidding too! Mostly… it just sucks that we’ll have to use the last of our berries to save him.”

“No kiddin’,” Spiral agreed.

…

He should have gotten some of these berries a long time ago. The power surging through him, the flight he was given. It was incredible. And it gave him the ability to show up that lemon loser once and for all.

Finally. After this, everything would go back to normal; to how it was supposed to be. He’d be praised and admired, recognized for his greatness and Pac would sink back into that oversized hoodie and hide like the good-for-nothing he was. Maybe he could even convince Cyli to take him back after he showed her how useless the lemon head was.

The netherworld was hot and ugly. Black jagged stone and red skies assaulted his vision. He made a beeline for the craggy black castle in the distance. He’d just fly right over the maze and take Betrayus out.

“Get ready, cuz here comes Skeebo to kick your slimey—!”

This loud boasting roasted a nearby dragon from its nap and said scaley beast proceeded to lazily flick him away with its tail. 

Skeebo slammed against a cliff with a splat and fell to the floor, the power aspect of his berry running out and resorting to just keeping him alive in the toxic atmosphere.

Ghosts had been ready and waiting for him, led by Dr. Buttocks.

“Grab zat doofus und take him back to Betrayus!” The blue ghost ordered. “And in ze meantime…”

The ghosts picked Skeebo up by the arms and Dr. Buttocks picked up the yellow berry dispenser that had fallen out of his pocket from the impact.

“… I vill take zeses,” the ghost said in delight.

A group of seven kids (four ghosts and three living Pac Worlders) arrived just as the ghosts flew away towards the castle.

The three living Pacworlders also didn’t look exactly battle ready. Pac was the luckiest with a simple flight berry but Cyli and Spiral had to make do with their hoverboards and whatever they could manage to scrape together. Cyli was trying very hard not to drop her PSC due to the fact that her arms were currently made of leafy green vines and Spiral wasn’t too happy about the fact that he was currently made of rubber and would bounce at the slightest nudge.

“Looks like you’re too late,” Inky stated.

“Oh you're kidding me!” Cyli exclaimed. “They caught Skeebo already !?”

“He is so LAME!” Spiral agreed.

“There will be time to talk about how lame Skeebo is after we save him and get my berries back from Betrayus and Dr. Hindbrain,” Pac said to his friends.

They flew off but the ghosts stayed behind to make faces at that joke (or in Pinky’s case, laugh at it).

“Hind-brain?” Blinky echoed.

“Well I thought it was funny,” Pinky said, flying after her living friends.

“Love is not only blind… it is also deaf,” Clyde stated.

As they all flew towards the castle… the same dragon woke up again. And apparently it was tired of people interrupting it’s nap so it decided to make the quiet… forever.

The kids turned around just in time to see the dragon flying towards them. Cyli and Spiral barely managed to dodge out of the way. In the process, they were knocked off their hoverboards and began falling towards the floor.

“Guys!” Pac cried.

He tried to fly towards him only to have to dodge an angry dragon snapping at him. Cyli reacted, her vine arms stretching out and grabbing a nearby ledge. She reached out for Spiral, trying to catch him too… but she missed.

Spiral yelped and laughed as he bounced against the floor. Cyli grinned and wrapped her green arm around him when he came back up.

“Forget what I said about these berry powers,” Spiral grinned. “They rule!”

Cyli chuckled.

Pac sighed in relief. But it seemed his relief was not experienced quickly enough. The dragon charged at him in his distracted state.

“Pac, look out!” Pinky and Blinky yelled.

Pac was pushed out of the way by the pink and red ghosts. Said ghosts were sent flying into a wall and splattered against it.

“Are you okay!?” Pac called, panic clutching at his chest as he maneuvered around the dragon.

He received pained gurgling in return. Pac glared and turned back to the dragon.

“Come and get me you big gecko!”

Spiral reached out his arm to Pac. The yellow kid got the message and grabbed Spiral, throwing the taller kid right at the dragon. Spiral kicked the dragon in the face, his rubber berry then causing him to ricochet off of its scaly muzzle and bounce across the floor a few times. The dragon growled and made another lung for Pac… only this time it crashed into the wall. The dragon fell to the floor and it’s impact caused the cliff to crumble and bury it in rubble (the rock with Pinky and Blinky on it falling right on top).

The dragon was defeated and Clyde caught a bouncing Spiral while Inky retrieved Cyli’s hoverboard for her.

“Thanks a million, guys,” Pac said to the pink and red splatters.

“No biggie…” Blinky moaned.

“Nothin’ to it…” Pinky garbled. 

“We’re just gonna… lay here for a sec…”

“Bye bye now…”

Pac looked concerned and glanced backwards at the remaining four of his friends.

“They’ll be fine,” Inky told him. “They just gots ta let themselves reform.”

“We’ll watch over them,” Clyde promised. “It probably isn’t a good idea for us to follow you in rescuing the poor fool anyways.”

“Yeah…” Spiral said, back on his board. “Considering he put you in his mouth .”

The ghosts and Cyli and Spiral all shuddered in unison while Pac sheepishly scratched the side of his head (knowing full well that he kinda had no right to share in their disgust at such a concept). Either way, the living kids flew off while the ghost gang reconveined. 

…

Skeebo sat shivering and tied up in red netherworld ropes. He was in the same netherworld cell that had held Pac and his friends, unbeknownst to him. But he wasn’t really thinking of that. He was too busy trembling in fear at the ghosts looming over him.

“So… this is the great hero Skeebo?” Betrayus said, sarcastically. “The hero who delivered the power berries right to my door!”

“Umm… Betrayus?” Dr. B said.

“Excuse me!” Betrayus glared at the man. “Gloating here!”

The fire ghost floated over to the terrified blue Pacworlder.

“The same berries that will allow me to concour Pac World!” He threw his head back and cackled. When he remained the only one doing this for five whole seconds, he turned to Buttocks in irritation. “What? Can’t you see this is an evil laughter moment!?”

“Wrong,” the scientist said, opening up the dispenser in his hands and turning it upside down. “Sorry lord Betrayus. Zat inept dork ate them all !”

Betrayus observed the empty container with fury blazing in his eyes. Soon fury was blazing all around him and Skeebo had to dodge a fireball.

“GUARDS!” Betrayus roared. “Take this buffoon and have Ogle serve him up as today's gloom plate special!”

“Sorry guys!” A voice cut through the air.

Everyone looked up to see Pac, Cyli, and Spiral standing in the window.

“But that’s a health code violation!” Pac told them.

“Specifically: Skeebo’s health!” Cyli added.

Betrayus roared in anger. “Get them!”

Ghosts swarmed Pac and his friends. They jumped into action.

Spiral began bouncing off the walls, knocking ghosts aside and delivering swift midair PSC shots to any spook unlucky enough to get in his way. Cyli swung from the ceiling by her arms, whipping out her own cannon to bag ghosts as well. She hit the floor and strained as a third arm shot out of her shoulder. Now she used one hand to shoot her cannon and the other two to whip and grab ghosts. Pac flew around, eating ghosts left and right. He swooped down and opened his mouth threateningly in Betrayus’s direction.

“Protect your leader!” The fire ghost trembled, hiding behind and pushing Dr. Buttocks. “With your hiney head!”

Pac ate Dr. B and glared as Betrayus fled. Oh what he’d give to take a bite of that guy. But he wasn’t what he was here for.

“Heads up, Pac!” Spiral called.

Pac ducked as Spiral flew overhead.

“More ghosts are coming!” Cyli stated, a ghost in each arm.

She threw them in Pac’s direction and he swallowed them down.

“Then we’re going! Come on!”

Pac flew into Skeebo’s cell and grabbed him. Pac soared out of the tall, ceilingless, prison as Spiral bounced behind and Cyli swung out with her arms. They flew back out of the maze (both Betrayus’s and the one at home).

It was dark now. This little stunt cost them the whole afternoon. They were all hungry, not just Pac. Pac placed Skeebo on the ground and looked over his shoulder as Spiral bounced over the wall with Cyli and her vine limbs in his arms.

“Alright!” Spiral cheered. Still bouncing and carrying Cyli, who was laughing triumphantly. “We did—!”

The two of them grunted as their berries wore off in unison and Spiral’s butt hit the floor in an unbouncey way. Cyli and Spiral grinned from their place on the floor, tangled in each other's laps. Pac smiled at them too… until a certain blue bully spoke.

“Some hero you are!” Skeebo spat as he shoved off the ropes. “Took you long enough!”

Pac’s eyes went half lidded as the taller teen began walking away.

“Talk about gratitude…” Spiral mumbled.

“Skeebo, didn’t you learn anything from all this?” Cyli asked (begged). She was over Skeebo. Of course she was. But that didn’t mean she didn’t want him to grow and improve. A small part of her even wanted to see the kind guy she thought he was when they were dating.

Spiral was less hopeful but… still.

Pac didn’t expect anything at all.

“Yeah!” He called back. “Ghosts taste even worse than lima beans and yellow is still the ugliest color in the universe!”

“Isn’t his hair yellow…???” Spiral mumbled.

Cyli snorted.

Pac on the other hand… he just let his shoulders slump.

“I guess some things never change…”

…

“I wouldn’t go in there if I were you…” Pac said, gentilly.

It was the next day and Skeebo was exhausted. All he wanted was to get some breakfast but of course the lemon head had to get in his way.

“Man, you really are a pig,” he stated. “Can’t handle sharing with the rest of the school, Jelly Belly? Or maybe you’re scared the public still see me as the hero—”

“I have done so much to prove that that’s not what I’m like, why do you keep clinging to that?” Pac asked him. He seemed to be genuinely asking. “Do you really think that or do you just choose to?”

“Watch your tongue, Lemon—”

“You are SO stuck in the past,” Pac sighed.

Skeebo actually paused. It was infuriating that the butter ball had the nerve to talk to him like this but that sentence… actually intrigued him.

“What?”

“You. Are. Stuck in the past,” Pac told him. “You’re clinging . You refuse to believe that things have changed because the past is where you had all the power. So you figure if you act all macho and loud like you still have control over me, you’ll feel powerful again.”

“Awh—!” Skeebo scoffed. “That’s not—!”

“It is. And you know what? I’m not even the reason you lost all that,” Pac said. “They don’t hate you because of what you did to me. They hate you ‘cuz of what you did to Cyli.”

Skeebo’s jaw gaped as he searched for what he was talking about. Then it dawned on him. The roof. The cyclops.

“Oh come on, it was a ghost!” He yelled. “No one would’ve been dumb enough to—!”

“ I did,” Pac said. “I had no berries, no idea what my powers were or how to control them, and no clue if I’d make it out alive. But I did it anyway. Because I care about her.” Pac’s gaze darkened. Before he just looked irritated and resigned. Now he looked angry at him. “You were supposed to care about her.”

“Oh, fuck off !” Skeebo exclaimed in a way that he really hoped sounded irritated (it didn’t) (he sounded fearful). “You-!”

“Shut UP, Skeebo!”

Skeebo shut up. Because Pac had never yelled at him before. Not cowering was one thing… but yelling? Fighting back?

“For once in your life, you’re gonna shut up and listen!” Pac ordered. The yellow kid’s blazing blue eyes were strong and terrifying, despite the fact that Skeebo had to look down to see them. The blue boy was suddenly struck with a fear that only ghosts knew. The fury of the last of the yellow ones was not easy to garner. But when you did…

Skeebo shut up. Skeebo listened.

“You are a horrible selfish cruel hearted person—” Pac told him, “— who has spent every waking moment of the past five years making my life a living hell. I never had half as much self hate before you hammered those seeds into my brain and stomped on anything else that tried to fight them off. You made me miserable for years . And I’m sure you're proud of it.” The anger in Pac’s eyes slowly disappeared. The fire went out. Now he was left with two cool blue pools. “But you lost .”

Skeebo flinched. He didn’t flinch at the back talking or the yelling or the anger… he flinched at that .

“I’m not afraid of you anymore,” Pac told him. “I’m happy now. And I know you can’t stand that but I don’t even care. My life doesn’t revolve around you anymore. You’re about the last person on my mind at any given moment. I’m just here, living my life, hanging with my friends, doing homework, eating ghosts, and waiting for you to accept that you lost and give up— not because you can actually hurt me any more…” Pac smirked. “But cuz’ you’re honestly just… kinda annoying.” Pac pushed past Skeebo with his gobsmacked expression. “By the way. Check the school’s Instameter.” He entered the cafeteria without anymore words.

Skeebo was fuming as he was left in the empty hall all alone. He wouldn’t accept that. Not today, maybe not ever. Because maybe Pac was right. Maybe somethings really never changed—

Skeebo stormed into the cafeteria, scrolling on his phone to find what Pac had warned him about. All eyes turned to him… and laughter filled the cafeteria as Skeebo’s eyes landed on the newest news post.

“No…” he muttered.

“Oh yeah!” Spiral shouted over the laughing crowd.

Posted digitally for everyone to see, was an unflattering picture of him in his rocket berry garb titled Pac Man Saves Wannabe Hero from the Netherworld . The article detailed the events leading up to the incident with many of his peers stating that they saw him swipe the berries and quoted Pac’s glorious rant as “the best thing to ever grace their blessed ears”. Needless to say, it did not paint a pretty picture of him.

“You made the front page, Skeebie,” Cyli said, teasingly waving her phone.

Pac sighed and rolled his eyes as he sat down with his friends.

“Now everyone knows there’s only one hero in town,” Spiral stated. “And his name is— JERK! Give that back, Pac!”

Pac smirked and threw the burger into his mouth, folding his arms behind his head as his best friend’s indignant yelling melded in with the laughter around them.

—But the things that mattered were going in the right direction.

Chapter Text

It was a beautiful sunny day in the parkette not too far from Maze Prep. The ballaster and tables were adorned with delicious treats and decorations as Cyli and Spiral placed down a plate of grapes and drumsticks respectively. 

“Alright, decorations are in place and food is officially set out!” Cyli beamed. “What else… invitations? Pac’s handling the invitations, right?”

“Yup!”

“This is gonna be the best party ever!”

“Unless you-know-who gets back from delivering those invitations…” Spiral’s eyes widened in concern, his mouth stretched thin and wincing as he caught sight of his yellow buddy. “… early.”

“Hey guys!” Pac flew down, jumping off his hoverboard and slipping off his helmet. “Invitations done and—” Pac freezed, his eyes locking onto the large spread of food out in front of him. His friends watched as his peuples dilated instantly. “Food looks… amazing…”

He broke into a manic grin and stumbled forwards. Cyli and Spiral immediately intercepted him.

“Hold it, Pac!” The blue girl called, trying to break through to him in his food focused trance. “This is for Sir Cumfrence’s surprise party, remember?”

“Sweet! Let me help,” Pac said gently pushing past them. His hand was around a drumstick in seconds. “I’ve got mad food sampling skills.” He sucked up the meat right off the bone. 

Cyli and Spiral winced in unison. As hard as it was to stop Pac from eating, it became exponentially harder to do so after he got started. They tried to drag him away by his shoulders as he ate the bone itself.

“Face it dude, you tend to get carried away around food…” Spiral said, as gently as he could manage.

Pac seemed to only barely be able to hear them as he was already circling back around to the table.

“Actually…” Cyli trailed off.

Pac, remarkably, turned towards her in confusion. Cyli’s expression was still concerned… but for an entirely different reason.

“… Never mind.”

“Never mind what?” Pac prompted.

Unease churned in Cyli’s gut… but… she did as he wanted.

“It’s… actually the food that gets carried away… usually.”

Pac now seemed to be fully out of his trance as a slight air of guilt showed his features (the key word here is: seemed).

“Yeah…” Pac agreed. “You’re right. I really should work on my self control.” His friends watched very pointedly as he grabbed three apples off the table and shoved them in his mouth. “I mean… kids look up to me! It’s crazy but like, they wanna be me.” A veggie platter was taken into his mouth. “So I should try to be a better role model, I mean…” a handful of cookies went down his throat. 

“Pac…” Spiral said.

“No, no, you’re right!” Pac insisted, seemingly unaware that his mouth was full of sandwiches. “People need to be able to look at me…” grapes gone, “and say PacMan knows how to…” rest of the drumsticks gone, “control himself…” asparagus, “and not let his gut do the thinking for him.” cakes, bananas, lettuce. “So you’re right, I definitely need to work on…” he paused as he finally noticed the dejected looks on his friend’s faces. He turned to the table and his jaw dropped. He put a hand to his head in absolute astonishment. “Please tell me that was locusts…” he begged. 

Sparring a short and guilty glance at his friends… they regrettably shook their heads. Pac miserably pointed to himself. They nodded.

“Definitely need to learn better self control…”

…

“Lord Betrayus, do you have any idea what I am holding?” Dr. Buttocks asked.

The thing in his metallic hand was small, black, and rectangular with red glowing circuitry, a small glowing antenna, and legs with purple slime globs at the ends.

“… A burnt domino?” Betrayus guessed in a slumped, bored, manner.

“It’s a microchip!” He explained. “And zis one is coated vith a new super glue I just invented: Slime Stickum!”

“Gosh. Wow. How will I ever come down from this techno high?” Betrayus wondered, in complete monotone.

Sensing his boss was not quite on board yet, Dr. B went to the second stage of his plan.

“Allow me to demonstrate!”

Butler heard that and immediately tried to take his leave. “Duty calls—- BAH!” He yelped as his twin brother threw the chip and it landed right on his head. “Whatever it is, get it off me !” He begged.

“Oh don’t be such a spoilsport!” Buttocks grinned, taking out a remote.

He jiggled the joystick and Butler immediately fell to the ground, banging his forehead on the floor.

“No!” He objected. “Stop!” He was sent flying into the air. When he came back down, his ghostly tendrils were manipulated into behaving like legs and he did a sassy walk. He did a pirouette before falling into his side and putting both hands behind his head. “I mean it!” He stood back up and began pulling on his mustache. “No means no!”

Betrayus, thoroughly amused and now completely awake, jumped off his throne and grabbed the remote. “Gimme gimme gimme!”

Butler’s eyes widened and he begged for mercy with his hands folded in front. Betrayus showed no mercy and used the remote to force him to fly right into a wall and splatter.

Buttocks chuckled.

“While tormenting my twin is highly rewarding, ze point of the microchip is we can control Pac Man .”

That caught Betrayus’s attention in a delightfully nasty sort of way. He didn’t even chuckle as Butler slid down the wall.

“We’ll send a microchipped ghost to PacWorld, then let Pac Man eat them,” Buttocks explained. “The slime stickum microchip vill stick to ze yellow ball’s gizzard, und well ah~! He’s ours .”

“Gold star for the doctor,” Betrayus grinned, shaking Butler up and down absentmindedly. “I’ve been wanting to subjugate that lemonlumix for a long time ! Now… I’ll need a volunteer for this important…” he grinned pointedly towards Buttocks, “and painful mission…”

Buttocks tensed up and immediately scrambled away.

“No. Nien. Niet! Negatory! Ix!”

A toggle of the remote stripped away his physical agency. He obediently marched back to the spot and raised his hand.

“Ah! A volunteer! Thank you, brave minion~”

…

After a lot of apologizing and running back and forth from various dorm rooms and the like, the table was almost completely restocked. Pac was just coming over with the hotdogs when…

“Dang it!” Pac muttered as he looked down to realize the platter was empty and his mouth tasted of pork. 

The boy sighed in defeat. This was hopeless. He didn’t even realize it was happening. What kind of hero lacks that much —

Pac stopped wallowing as he heard his friend’s voices.

“You can talk to him about it, you know?” Spiral said. “He actually hates it more when you ignore it.”

“I know, I know…” Cyli sighed.

Pac was suddenly wrought with guilt as he realized he was eavesdropping… but he continued to do it anyways, tucking himself behind a bush to listen.

“It’s just… after… knowing what I know…” Cyli said. “About how… how bad it is— for him .” Pac’s insides clenched as he realized what she was talking about. “It feels wrong to ask him to do that. How would you even start that conversation? Hey, Pac. Listen, buddy, I know you’re in a constant state of pain/hunger and eating is the only thing that lessens your perpetual agony but could you maybe… not do that? For my convenience ?”

“Yeeeeeaaaaaaaaah…” Spiral winced, autably. “That’s also ignoring the fact that he’s like… you know… already very aware of the problem.”

“Right!” Cyli agreed. “Like, he already feels guilty about it, so who are we to tell him he’s not trying hard enough?”

“Yeah. We don’t get to decide what’s enough,” Spiral stated. “My motto with Pac has always been: unless he asks you to help him change… just leave it alone. He usually never does something without good reason. And the world already asks a lot of him.”

“So there we go,” Cyli said. “We don’t bring it up unless Pac decides he wants to do something about it.”

Pac’s body clenched up even further because… no. No, they had every right to want him to do better. Cyli was calling upon the food fiasco as a reason he should be allowed to continue as is, but Pac saw that incident as a bonafide sign he did need to change. That event confirmed to him, without a doubt, that his monstrous appetite didn’t only affect him. It became everyone else’s problem as well. And that… wasn’t okay.

“I’m gonna get some self control!” Pac announced (after circling back a bit to make it look like he just arrived).

His friends looked at him in surprise and Pac grew slightly sheepish as he realized the empty hotdog tray was still in his hands. Then that sheepishness grew into outright shame as he realized there was already a hotdog tray on the table. Oh… they expected him to fail when they asked him to get them… That stung but… he couldn’t blame them.

“Pac, you don’t have—”

“I want to!” Pac cut his tall red friend off. “I mean, even if we’re ignoring all the really inconvenient things this kind of thing brings up in day to day life, it’s a pretty glaring weakness. Betrayus already used food against me once.”

“I don’t think he’s ever gonna try that again,” Cyli said with a slightly nervous smile. “Inky, Blinky, Pinky and Clyde said they basically used up all the food in the nether world to make that stunt happen.”

Spiral laughed and (while he was blushing a little) Pac grinned his big dopey grin.

“Maybe he won’t try to get me full again but he could try something else. So, I’ve gotta overcome this! Just because I eat a lot doesn’t mean I’m allowed to not be in control of myself.”

Pac’s friends tried their best to hide the slight cringing they did at the word “allowed”. This made them nervous but… he did ask.

“Alright,” Cyli started. “So… we won’t really be able to know what’ll help you the most since what you’re facing isn’t—”

Pac was doing his very best to listen. And he was. At first… but… he caught sight of the food table again… and wow… was it… alluring…

“Pacworld to Pacster!”

Pac snapped back to reality, his eyes wide for a completely different reason now.

“Dial back the drool, buddy. That food’s off limits, remeber?” Spiral stated.

“Right! Right! Sorry!” Pac said, shaking his head.

“Okay…” Cyli said, doing a really good job at hiding her exasperation as she started again. “First things first, you have to want to control yourself.”

“Got it,” Pac nodded. “Done. Check.”

“Good. Why?”

Pac blinked.

“Huh?”

“Why?” Cyli repeated. “Why do you want to control yourself? Identifying your reasons will act as good motivation. Also I’m trying to distract you from the food.”

Pac chuckled slightly, wiping his mouth as he rolled his eyes back to think about that question. He had loads of reasons to do this. But… a lot of them… were a bit… self deprecating.

“Uh… A: It's healthy to eat right?”